


The Pursuit of Happiness

by greyquill



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Suh Youngho | Johnny Are Best Friends, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Friendship, Genderfluid Character, M/M, Parenthood, Semi-poverty, Single Parents, Slow Burn, Violence, aged-down characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 57,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24558061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyquill/pseuds/greyquill
Summary: Ten knows better than to stop, knows better than to quit running. He knows it would cost him his little bit of happiness with the only thing that matters to him: his son.But then why does this strange alpha have to come and ruin it all?~~~Alternatively: Single dad Ten is just trying to do the best he can for his five-year-old son, Yangyang.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul & Moon Taeil, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Liu Yang Yang, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten & Suh Youngho | Johnny, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang, Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Moon Taeil/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Nakamoto Yuta/Qian Kun
Comments: 174
Kudos: 370





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was completely inspired by the movie of the same name.

One of Ten’s most favorite sounds in the world is the creak of a door, the whine of hinges that no matter how regularly they’re oiled always manage to make a voice for themselves. The sound is usually accompanied by a beginning or an ending. Doors closing and opening, sometimes bringing with them surprises, sometimes closing a chapter, sometimes swinging of their own accord with no apologies for those caught in the way.

Right now, the creaking door means his baby is coming. The tap of the tub leaks slowly, droplets falling to join the water filling the porcelain. Ten tries not to think about the cost to fix it as his son comes into the bathroom.

The five-year-old undresses under Ten’s watchful gaze, leaving his clothes discarded on the meager bathroom rug before getting into the tub. He sits on Ten’s lap and leans on him, his head on his chest, thick scruffy hair tickling his chin. 

Ten wraps him up in his arms and kisses the top of his head. The tap continues to steadily leak.

“You still stink, momma.”

“Stink like what?”

“Dirty old alpha.”

Ten can’t help snorting out his amusement.

“Do you like smelly alphas?”

“No, not really. But they have the most money.”

“Johnny isn’t smelly.”

“Because Johnny is kind.”

His son murmurs something under his breath and Ten readjusts him in his arms so he can lean forward and undo the plug. The metal bit clicks dully and the water starts draining.

“Don’t you want to know what your daddy smelled like?”

“Not really.”

“Ok–” he kisses the top of his head again–“Doesn’t matter anyway.”

When the tub is completely drained, they stand and Ten pulls the curtain closed before turning on the shower. He helps his son bathe, making sure that the little boy doesn’t get soap in his eyes and gets every spot. Ten tries not to think about how sore he feels as he cleans himself off too.

The soap is washed off along with all the unpleasant smells and they step out to towel off. Ten pulls on his robe and then kneels as he ruffles his son’s hair dry before moving the towel down to his shoulders, swaddling him. “Do I still stink?”

The boy leans close, sniffling at his mother’s neck before shaking his head no.

“No? Good. I’d rather smell like you,” Ten smiles, standing and hefting his baby up in his arms.

“What do I smell like?” The little boy asks, leaning into Ten’s shoulder as he’s carried down the carpeted hall to his room.

“Mmm, let me think about it,” Ten sets him down in the middle of his toy-riddled room. The blinds over the window are shut tight but the lamp in the corner is on, throwing yellow light. He helps him get dressed into his pajamas. “You smell liiiikeee… my little baby, Yangyang,” he smiles, cupping his face in his hands.

Yangyang grins, blushing pink. “That’s not a smell!”

“Yes, it is.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Ok thennnn, what do I smell like?”

Yangyang pauses, his lips set in a line as he thinks. “You smell like…”

“Like?”

“Like momma.”

Ten narrow his eyes, “That’s not a smell.”

“Yes, it is! It’s like… like the oils, the good smelly oils, like the ones Mr. Taeil uses but… but different! Better!”

Ten smiles and boops Yangyang’s nose lightly, “Mmm, did you brush your teeth?”

“No, I brush my teeth after dinner, momma, remember?”

“I thought you’d already had dinner, baby. I saw you sneaking around in the kitchen.”

Yangyang giggles and shakes his head no vigorously. “No, momma! I stayed in–” he lowers his voice to a stage whisper–“my secret spot.”

“You did, baby?”

“Mhm–” he nods–“And I stayed extra quiet.”

Ten smiles fondly and runs his hands over Yangyang’s shoulders affectionately. “Good pup. That’s my good boy.” He stands, holding out a hand, throwing a sideways glance at Yangyang’s secret spot, a comfortable area in the closet for him to hide, hidden behind his clothes. “Come on, baby, let’s get some din-din.”

Yangyang takes Ten’s hand, his small fist curling over his parent’s larger fingers.

Ten heats up leftover rice and cooks burger patties on the old rusted gas stove. Yangyang moves around his mother, grabbing two plastic cups, forks, and plates, setting them up on the island, using a little plastic stool to see over the counter. He moves over to the fridge, grabbing the chili garlic sauce jar within the door before glancing over at Ten.

“Momma, do you want water or soda?”

“Water, please.” Ten glances at his son. “Can you get it by yourself?”

“Yes, momma. I can do it!” Yangyang smiles, grabbing the half-filled water jug and pulling it off the shelf. He closes the refrigerator door with his foot and goes back to the island, climbing up on his stool to place the items down on the counter as Ten brings the pan close, depositing two cooked patties on their plates before setting the hot pan down in the sink.

It hisses as he turns the water on and turns back around to help Yangyang pour out water in their cups. The microwave dings behind them and he caps the jug, turning to turn off the tap and grab their rice from the appliance.

“I’ll turn the tv on!” Yangyang says and bounds off towards the living room.

“Ok!” Ten scoops out rice onto their plates beside the patties, and pours out some of the chili sauce, pooling at the edge. He takes the plates into the living room to where Yangyang is sitting in front of the coffee table, the tv illuminating the room. He sets the plates down and goes back for their cups, turning off the light in the kitchen as he does.

Yangyang has settled on a cartoon movie, something about dinosaurs, and they watch that as they eat. Ten picks up the bits of rice his son drops, completely distracted by the movie that he misses his mouth a few times. Then when their plates are long empty, Yangyang starts slumping into Ten, burying his little face into his side.

Ten coos and runs a hand over his hair, “Come on, baby, time for bed.”

Yangyang whines, curling a tiny fist into his squinting eyes, “Mm awake, momma.”

“Nice try. Come on, gotta brush your little teeths.”

Yangyang stumbles to his feet with Ten’s help, “T-They’re not little.”

“Oh, yeah, I know. I’m sorry, baby.”

Yangyang pads off towards the restroom and Ten picks up their plates, switching off the tv, and cleaning the dishes in the sink before going to check on his baby. Yangyang is already in bed when he finds him and kneels at his bedside.

“Did you brush right?” 

Yangyang nods. 

“Let me see.” 

Yangyang bares his little teeth, scrunching up his face cutely.

“Ferocious white teeth. That’s my baby–” Ten smiles, running a hand through Yangyang’s hair, combing it away from his face–“You need a haircut.”

“I like it–” Yangyang yawns, hugging his cat plushie tighter–“like this.”

“Mm, well ok, but don’t complain when it’s all the way down to your toes.” Yangyang snorts and giggles. Ten grins, leaning his cheek close, “Kiss for momma?” 

Yangyang leans up and pecks Ten’s cheek softly.

“Thank you, baby. I love you, Yangyang.”

“I love you too, momma.”

Ten smiles and kisses Yangyang’s forehead before stepping around toys over to the lamp. He switches it off, the bear night light beside Yangyang’s bed coming on.

“Goodnight, baby,” he whispers at the door. His words fall on deaf ears, Yangyang already dead asleep. He smiles and walks out, leaving the door open as he walks down the small hall to his own room.

The neatly made bed seems so huge sitting there against the wall on its own with nothing but the nightstand as company. The stench of sex is long gone and so is the horrid scent of alpha, it smells clean, just like Ten likes. He walks over to his closet, pulling on pajamas before setting his uniform on the rusted nail driven through the wall by the curtained window.

Little slivers of light from the streetlamp outside sneak their way in, lighting enough for Ten to see well. He slips into bed and is about to lay his head down when the grate in the corner catches his eyes, old and unsuspecting behind the door. To anyone else, it appears to be rusted shut but Ten knows better as he sits in front of it.

The grate comes out with a little slide up and to the left and Ten grabs the plastic baggie sitting inside. It crinkles open and he fills his hands with the neatly folded cash inside, counting it quickly, thumbing at the bills. He sighs softly, finding it all there, and slips it back into the bag.

_Just a little more and he can get his pup far away from here. Just a little more and he doesn’t have to risk their lives any more…_

He returns the grate to its place and himself to his bed. He knows he really shouldn’t, not with the reputation alphas have, lone alphas, that is, of raping and harassing and taking what they want, of aggression towards pups that aren’t their own. But between trying to take care of Yangyang on his own and working long shifts at a hotel, he isn’t really left with many choices.

He’s glad he got his tubes tied is all he thinks as he lets himself succumb to sleep.

~~~

“Yangyang, baby, time to get up,” Ten calls into his son’s room as he rushes into the bathroom, buttoning up his dress shirt as he goes. He is going to be late to work, for the first time in a long time, and he sighs, trying to dress as quickly as he can before going back to check if Yangyang got up. “Baby.”

“Mmm…” Yangyang squints at him, features set in a frown, sitting up in bed with his plushie held under his arm.

“We gotta hurry. Momma woke up late.” Yangyang balls his fists and rubs at his eyes. “Come on, baby.”

The boy whines petulantly before sliding out of bed, dragging his feet as he walks towards the bathroom. Ten grabs his clothes from his closet and follows after him. Yangyang is struggling to put toothpaste on his brush until Ten helps him, directing his tiny hands.

“Brush your teeth real good, baby, and don’t forget your tongue too.”

Yangyang squints, head lolling, threatening to fall asleep where he stands, slowly brushing his teeth. Ten brushes his teeth along with his son until they’re both spitting in the sink. He wipes the excess white paste from the corner of Yangyang’s pouting lips and helps him dress out of his pajamas and into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

The 5-year-old starts to look more awake as Ten brushes his hair, trying to make it look less… like he didn’t just wake up. A little water helps sort it out and then he nudges the boy to his room. “Grab your things, baby. Quickly or we’ll miss the bus.”

Ten rushes into the kitchen, packing up Yangyang’s lunch. Yangyang passes by dragging his backpack behind him with his plushie still held tight under his arm.

“Momma.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I can’t tie my shoes.”

“Yeah, I know, baby–” Ten hurries over, handing Yangyang his boxed lunch–“Can you put your lunch in your bag?”

“Mhm.” Yangyang takes it and starts to stuff it in his backpack as Ten kneels to tie his shoes. He presses on the tip of the little sneakers.

“You need new shoes, baby?”

Yangyang nods.

“We can get you a new pair this weekend, ok?”

And it’s like Yangyang has been injected with rounds upon rounds of happy pills. “Can we get ice cream too?! And pretzels?!”

“Yeah, baby.”

“Yaaaayyyyyy!!!”

Ten smiles and stands, helping Yangyang put his backpack on properly, “Ok, ready? You have all your things?”

“Yes, momma!”

“Alright, let’s go,” Ten starts for the door, opening it to the rest of the apartment complex bathed in grey purple light. He has one foot out the door when he feels tugging on his hand.

“Momma, your bag,” Yangyang says all whilst gesturing back into their home.

“Oh crap. Wait right here, baby.” Ten runs back in. Yangyang watches him go and looks back out the door, shivering. He comes back not a moment after with his bag hanging off one shoulder. “Alright, come on, baby. We gotta hurry.”

Yangyang nods, following beside Ten as they descend the stairs and cross the lot to exit the complex. The sun has already risen and peeks through buildings, streaking patches of yellow on otherwise dark, bleak roads. Ten picks Yangyang up on his hip, looking both ways before running across the street to the bus stop before the bus shuffles past.

They climb on and Ten sets Yangyang down with a sigh. The bus is crowded and Ten holds Yangyang’s hand tightly as they move through to an empty spot near the back. The muddled scents of the other people, of dirty water, and grime fills the bus. It’s such an unpleasant smell and it’s one of the reasons Ten is always waking up early before the sun. 

Yangyang hugs onto his leg, bunching the slacks up in one hand, the other still holding tightly to his cat plushie, and pressing his face to his thigh. He runs a hand over his hair comfortingly and sighs softly. As the bus continues its slow shuffle through the city, more and more people board till Ten and Yangyang are pressed into a corner.

“Watch it, _pal_!”

“Don’t tell me to watch it if you’re in the goddamn way!”

All heads turn towards the commotion in the front. Ten rolls his eyes as the heavy scent of alpha starts rolling through from the front of the bus.

“Don’t bare your fucking teeth at me!”

“The fuck are you gonna do about it!!”

Shrieks resound and everyone through the bus is jostled in a wave. Ten holds onto Yangyang’s hand as a fight breaks out. He hears the bus driver trying to stop the fighting and then the bus screeches to a stop.

“Momma!”

_Shit._

Ten leans down to pick up his pup to keep him from getting trampled. He’s shoved and Yangyang disappears in a sea of legs.

“Momma!”

“Oh fuck! Yangyang!”

“I want everyone off the bus right now!” The bus driver yells and the doors slide open with thumps.

Fear and distress flood Ten’s veins as everyone shoves past, he’s jostled along trying to look and move against the crowd. “Yangyang!” Until he’s off, searching frantically through the crowd coming filing off the bus. “Yangyang!” 

_My baby, where’s my baby?!_

“Momma!”

His head shoots up to see Yangyang being carried over the crowd in the arms of a stranger. He nearly cries in relief as the stranger nears, moving through the crowd towards him 

Police sirens resound, the two alphas that started the fight are arrested with everyone trying to get a look at what’s happening. Behind the crowd, Ten takes Yangyang into his arms and hugs him tight.

“My Yangyang, my baby, are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“I’m ok, momma,” Yangyang nods even as Ten peppers his face with kisses. “This mister helped me.”

Ten then notices the black-haired stranger is still there. The stranger smiles, holding Yangyang’s plushie in his hand. There’s two tiny arms winding around the stranger’s neck, holding onto coat clad shoulders, the arms lead up to a cute face peeking around the stranger’s.

The stranger holds out the plushie, “Are the buses always that crazy?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Ten takes the plushie, eyeing the stranger suspiciously. He can’t tell _what_ he is. He stalls by handing Yangyang his plushie, making sure his baby has it held securely before turning to the stranger again. He supposes he is kind of beautiful, maybe he’s a beta? Or a really odd omega… Who carries their kid on their back like that anyway? 

“Uh, thanks for saving my kid.”

“Y-Yeah! Of course, I mean, had it been my baby…” He trails off, smiling down at his feet and Ten quirks an eyebrow. 

He’s wasting time, a little voice at the back of his mind tells him and he jostles Yangyang, slipping him up on his hip again. “Ok, well, I’ve gotta go.” He turns around and marches off. Yangyang looks back as they walk off. 

“I’m gonna be so late,” Ten mutters, “Remind me to buy an alarm clock when we go to the mall.”

“Momma.”

“Yeah?”

“Are alphas suppose to smell nice?”

“Not really.”

“Why?”

Ten sighs, “I don’t know, baby. Maybe ask Johnny. He’ll know.”

And Yangyang keeps quiet as they walk the three blocks down to the daycare. Up until they step inside the yellow house.

“Johnny!” Yangyang all but screeches.

Ten winces and puts Yangyang down as the tall alpha appears from a wide doorway to the left of the narrow entry hall. Johnny grins, “Hey, little sheep.”

“Why don’t alphas smell nice?”

“What?” Johnny chuckles before glancing up at Ten. “Hey, you’re oddly not on time?”

Ten shakes his head, “Crazy morning. And I’m late to work.”

“Taeil can give you a ride.” And he’s calling over his shoulder before Ten can refuse. “Ilie! Mister Ten needs a ride!”

“Ten!” 

A squeaky voice draws the attention of the two adults, looking towards the top of the stairs opposite the wide entryway.

“You’re late! Where is my BOYFRIEND?!”

Ten arches a brow and Johnny sighs, “Hyuckie, it’s too early to be yelling. And didn’t I tell you to get your butt down here?”

“I was getting ready for _my_ boyfriend.” The little kid hops down the steps, dressed in overalls and a purple shirt. Johnny opens the child gate at the bottom of the stairs, Donghyuck hops down the last step and stands before them, hands on his hips as he glares up at Ten. “Where is he?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, kid.”

Johnny grabs Donghyuck’s head and turns him around, directing him to the living room where all the other children are. “If you don’t get your tiny butt in the-”

Donghyuck catches sight of his victim and giggles in glee, speeding off. “Yangyang!!!”

Johnny turns back to Ten, stroking a hand over his cheek lightly, letting his hand rest on his shoulder. “You sure you’re ok?”

Ten nods, smiling, “Thank you.”

A car honk from outside grabs their attention.

“That’s him. Go on.”

“Ok, bye, Johnny–” he walks past to peek into the living room, searching for his baby till he sees him being hugged tightly by Donghyuck–“Bye, baby.”

Yangyang pulls himself out of the omega pup’s hold and runs over to his parent. “Bye, momma.”

Ten smiles, crouching to hug him, “I love you.”

“I love you too. Be careful,” Yangyang says, pressing his little nose to Ten’s scent gland.

“I will. You be good, ok?”

Yangyang nods as Ten presses a kiss to his forehead and steps away.

“Thank you, John.”

“Don’t mention it, Ten.”

He steps outside and into Taeil’s little car. The older omega smiles, “Good morning.”

“Morning.” Ten buckles in and Taeil drives off down the road.

“Woke up late?”

“Yeah,” Ten sighs, dragging his hands over his face. “The bus was full and two knotheads started fighting for no reason, you know how it is.”

Taeil glances at him when they slow to a stop at a red light. “Is that it?”

Ten exhales, shuddering, voice near a whisper, “I almost lost Yangyang… People going crazy on the bus, trying to get off… Some man saved him.”

“Did you get his number? His name?”

Ten scrunches up his face and turns to look at Taeil as the light changes green. “What for? Yeah, he saved my kid, but that’s just decent behavior. Only an animal would trample a child.”

Taeil chuckles, “Ten, _we’re_ animals. I mean, we’re not beasts like our horridly developed ‘human’ ancestors, but we’re better off.”

“Hey, don’t loop me in with you. You and your husband and your kids might be animals, but me and Yangyang aren’t,” Ten chuckles when Taeil swats a hand at his arm.

“You get what I’m trying to say.”

They fall silent. Ten watches the buildings they pass up, colored brown and grey, as bleak as the parts of the city they dwell. The radio churns out a soft tune, something funky and full of soul. It’s a tune very much Taeil and Johnny.

“So what was he?”

“Does it matter?”

Taeil shrugs, “I guess not… But that doesn’t answer my question either way.”

“I’m not sure what he was… He had a kid too though.”

Taeil hums and the car comes to a stop in front of the hotel Ten works at, “Neo Inn”. “Hey, wait a second–” Taeil reaches into the back seat and hands Ten a lunch bag–“Here. Can’t have you hungry on the job.” Ten gapes, mouth moving, trying to formulate words but Taeil nudges him out of the car. “You’re late, Ten, remember?”

“Oh fuck,” the young omega stuffs the lunch bag into his bag and steps out, “Thank you, Taeil. Really, thank you.”

Taeil smiles and waves as he drives off. Ten waves over his shoulder and walks along the side of the tall and stout yellow building till he rounds the back where the employee entrance is. He slips into the metal doors, the smell of powdered detergent and the heat of drying machines up in the air.

He hurries through the locker room, setting his bag in his locker, before walking through to the break room, and finally into the wide laundry room. His co-workers are hard at it, folding sheets, loading them onto carts, dumping out dirty sheets, stuffing the washing machines. He presses his thumb to the clock-in machine just outside the break room and heads towards his post.

His partner is already there, taking sheets out of the industrial dryer and laying them out on the flat ironing table in front of it. Ten walks up, grabbing the other end of the sheet and helping them pull it out completely. His partner, a tall omega, arches a brow and opens his mouth.

“Don’t. I’ve had a rough morning.” Ten stops him before he can go on a lecture.

“I was just going to say that our dear manager wanted to talk to you before the day ends.”

Ten sighs. “That bad?”

“Kun’s just worried. You know how he is.”

They fold the wide white sheets together.

“You know you could hitch a ride with me and Jae.”

“No offense, Doyoung, but you live far from me and I still have to drop off my pup at daycare before I come here.”

“We don’t mind.”

Ten smirks, setting the folded sheets on a cart to be taken away as Doyoung follows with more white sheets in his arms. “Did your hubby tell you to ask?”

Doyoung scoffs, “I can be nice sometimes.”

“Rarely.”

“I _am_ nice. _You_ just like getting on my bad side.”

Ten laughs. Their washing machine buzzes loudly and they go over to it, drawing out the washed sheets and stuffing them in the dryer.

“How’s Jeno?”

“He’s good. Adjusting to the house and his room.” Doyoung smiles brightly. “He gets along well with Woo though. They share a room. Jae built them bunk beds… Jeno’s still kind of shy around him, but they told us that it’s common for adopted pups to be wary of their new alpha parents, especially alpha pups. So–” he shrugs–“all in all, it’s going pretty well.”

“I’m glad to hear that–” Ten grunts, reaching into the washing machine for the stubborn white sheet sticking to the bottom–“And Jungwoo? He’s ok with the new baby brother?”

“More than ok. He’s excited most of the time, but now he’s _hyper all the time_. Jae tells me that every time he goes to pick him up from school, the first thing he asks for is Jeno,” Doyoung laughs, fitting dirty sheets into the washing machine when Ten is done. “By the way, what daycare do you have Yangyang in? We have a babysitter, but, well, we’re not exactly swimming in money, you know.”

“It’s called the Purple Daycare. I’m friends with the owners. They’re really nice and they genuinely care for the kids. They have two pups of their own too, so they know what they’re doing. If you want, I could probably put a good word in for you,” Ten says without looking up from where he’s starting up the dryer.

“That’d be really helpful, Ten… Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

They continue working, loading sheets into the machines, folding them away, and so on, and so on until they’re placed on towel duty, for which then they go to a separate room. There’s bamboo tubs distributed through the steaming warm room.

Doyoung helps Ten clip his blond hair back with bobby pins before they go in. Then Doyoung is standing in one of the tubs with his pants tied up to his knees, pressing towels down into the water as Ten places them in.

“That’s enough,” Doyoung says, stepping out using the stairs attached to the side.

Ten nods and turns to the tiled wall behind him, grabbing two soap balls from a container on the shelf and tossing them in as Doyoung pulls on a hook hanging from the ceiling. A curved compartment slides down from the ceiling as he pulls, landing at the edge of the tub then steaming hot water is rushing down through the ident, filling the tub completely. 

The soap balls dissolve into powdery white suds. Ten grabs a long paddle leaning on the wall and uses it to churn the towels, folding them over each other and pressing down to wash them thoroughly. Doyoung takes the paddle when he gets tired and they continue like that, taking turns until they’re sweating both from the effort and from the warmth of the room.

They’re washing towels until the lunch hour bell rings and then all the omegas and the few betas working down in the cleaning area of the hotel move out to the break room. It fills quickly but Doyoung saves two seats as Ten goes into the locker room to get their packed lunches. He returns, setting both bags down.

“Thank you.”

Ten nods, opening his bag to find a thick sandwich, a bottle of tea, and some chips and cookies. Doyoung leans over the table with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Tennn, don’t tell me your _boyfriend_ packed that for you? You’ve been holding out on me? Who is it? Is it a handsome alpha? Are they tall?”

Ten rolls his eyes, “My friends packed it for me. The ones that own the daycare.”

“Wow, they must really care about you… I’ll trade you the cookies for a Twinkie.”

Ten slides the bag of cookies across the table and Doyoung makes a high giddy noise before handing his Twinkie over. He bites into his sandwich, watching as Doyoung digs into his bowl of… something.

“What is that?”

“Hm?” Doyoung looks down at his bowl. “Chicken burrito in salad form.”

Ten snorts, “Getting creative with the leftovers, huh?”

“Better than throwing them away, and this isn’t all that bad. It’s pretty tasty. Want some?”

“No thanks… So, um, do you have more of that bond safeguard? I’m running out.”

Doyoung sets his features in a frown but Ten can see the worry a mile away.

“Please-”

“Ten, I really don’t think-”

“ _Please_. Just two more vials, that’s all I need and I’m done with all that. I can pay you double for them. I-”

Doyoung reaches across the table to grab Ten’s hand. “Ten, I’m not going to make you pay for them, but I want you to really think about what you’re asking me for.”

“I have to use the safeguard, I have to. I don’t want to be _‘accidentally’_ bitten by some random alpha. You’ll know what’ll happen to me, what’ll happen to _my baby_ … Just… Can you get me some? I can’t use the shitty convenience store kind, it’s flimsy.”

“Ok, ok, I’ll ask Jae… But, Ten, you gotta promise to be _careful_. If something happens to you… If you invite the wrong alpha… Yangyang won’t have anyone else.”

Ten grits his jaw, nodding slightly and looking away, trying to get rid of the misty sensation in his eyes.

“And I’d probably end up with some other omega as a partner that won’t even gossip with me.”

Ten huffs out a chuckle and smiles. He stands when he finishes his lunch, Doyoung watches with a questioning look on his face. 

“I’m gonna go talk to Kun. Get it over with.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.” 

He walks off, disposing of the baggies and placing Taeil’s lunch bag in his locker before walking back through the break room, full of their chattering omega co-workers, and through the laundry room to an elevator in the back.

He presses the call button and waits a few moments before it arrives. The elevator only goes up three floors but he’s going to the second one where the betas work as maintenance. He walks through the gray room, filled with tools of all kinds.

The few betas sitting around there glance at him as he walks past but they know better than to start hollering and catcalling like an alpha would. Kun’s office is just towards the back and he knocks on the clear glass door, getting the manager’s attention from where he’s sitting behind his desk. He waves him in and gestures for Ten to sit, which he doesn’t.

“Doyoung said you wanted to speak to me.”

“Yes,” Kun eyes him warily, “You were late today.” And it comes out more like a question than a statement.

“Two alphas started a fight in the bus I was on and I had to drop off my pup at his daycare. I won’t be late again,” he doesn’t meet his eyes, staring at a spot just behind him.

“Ten.”

“Yes, sir?”

Kun sighs, “Quit it. Don’t block me out. I’m worried about you.”

Then Ten feels a little bad and meets Kun’s concerned eyes. “I’m ok. Just had a rough morning that’s all.” His eyes drift down, landing on the frame on Kun’s desk, a picture of him, his mate, and their three pups.

Kun notices. “Yangyang is a beta, right?”

Ten nods.

“You know, my alpha has this friend. He’s really friendly and he-“

“Kun. I’m not interested. I don’t have time to waste talking with alphas… but if you have any more shifts, I’m more than happy to take them up.”

The older omega sighs softly and stands, rounding his desk to hug Ten. “If you ever need anything, you know Yuta and I are always here for you.”

“I know,” he tries to ignore Kun’s scent of paper and freshly cut apples to hug him back. Kun steps away as the lunch hour bell rings again. “Thanks for the talk, chief. Say hi to your family for me.”

Kun nods and smiles a small sad smile and Ten doesn’t look back as he walks off. He finds Doyoung in the towel room and they get to work again, washing towels in steaming hot water to rid them of oils and scents.

They’re switched back to the laundry room when they’re dripping with sweat. Doyoung grabs some paper towels, handing a few to Ten. They stand there a moment in the hall between the two rooms, wiping themselves clean.

“Did my make up come off?”

Ten glances at Doyoung. “No. I can’t even tell you’re wearing any.”

“ _Hey_.”

“No, I meant, you look good.”

Doyoung smiles and then they’re helping spray the other down with a scent neutralizer before going back into the laundry room. A lot of omegas working in the hotel use the bus to get back home, a lot of the omegas don’t return home till it’s dark out, and while most are mated and have pups, it isn’t unheard of for alphas to target them anyway, especially if their scent is strong, which happens if you’ve been sweating in a steaming room for a while.

They’re hand washing silk pillowcases when Doyoung’s shift ends.

“Do your friends have a phone I can call?” The tall omega asks, digging in his pocket for a pen or marker.

“Mhm–” Ten wrings his hands dry on his pants and takes the pen Doyoung holds out–“It’s 10 blocks north of here. I’ll tell them about you and Jeno when I get off today.”

Doyoung watches Ten scribble the number on his forearm along with the address. “Thank you. Say hi to Yangyang for me.”

Ten nods, waving him off, “I will.”

Doyoung leaves and Ten is left to continue his work, scrubbing silk pillowcases out and then setting them to dry on clothesline racks. 

By the time he’s done for the day, his hands are seemingly permanently pruney and a glance at the clock in the locker room tells him it’s nearing 10. The bus takes 15 minutes to get to the daycare and 30 minutes to get home from there. He’ll be getting home at nearly midnight. He sighs and makes his way out of the hotel, his bag strapped across his chest as he walks through the alleyway behind the hotel towards the bus stop on the other side of the street.

The bus is mostly empty, save for a group of teens chuckling to themselves in the back and an elderly couple sitting near the front by the driver. Ten makes himself comfortable in the middle and closes his eyes, resting his head against the vibrating window to keep from falling asleep. 

The bus squeals and screeches on through the city until it arrives at Ten’s stop. He hops off and walks the block down to Taeil and Johnny’s place. He knocks on the door and doesn’t have to wait for long before Johnny answers. “Hey,” he stands aside, letting Ten in.

“Where’s Yangyang?”

“Asleep.” Johnny closes the door and locks it. “Ten, why don’t you stay here for the night? It’s late. You can use the spare room.”

“John, I really appreciate you but-”

“No buts. Come on, Yangyang is already sleeping in there. We bathed him and everything. Taeil left you some old pajamas of his in the bathroom,” Johnny takes his bag when he doesn’t answer, slowly slipping it off his shoulder to hang it on the rack by the door. “You’re working hard enough already,” he says, massaging Ten’s shoulders lightly.

“You work hard too, Johnny. Everyone does. I’m no different.”

“Ten-Ten, you work harder than most people do, and you’ve been at it since you’ve had Yangyang. Let us take care of you.”

Ten sighs and hugs Johnny, burying his face in his chest. Johnny smiles and runs his hand over Ten’s back.

“Thank you.”

“That’s what best friends are for,” Johnny grins, walking off into the living room and towards the kitchen in the back. “You hungry? I made pasta.”

“I’d love some pasta right about now–” he follows the tall alpha–“Where’s Taeil?”

“Upstairs. Helping Yukhei with his homework.”

“They give 6-year-olds homework?”

“Yeah, it makes them feel special, you know.”

“I guess… I’m gonna shower first if that’s ok.”

“Yeah, Ten, take your time.”

“Thanks.” He turns and walks off down the hall to the spare room behind the stairs. Yangyang is tucked under the covers of the full-size bed and he doesn’t wake as he kisses the top of his head and steps into the bathroom.

And even though he’s been around cleaning products the whole day, he feels _way more_ refreshed after a cool shower. He slips into the pajamas Taeil left for him, the older omega’s scent of rosemary?... mint?.... clings to the cotton garments. He’s known Taeil since he started dating Johnny way back in high school and he _still_ can’t figure out what his scent is, but it’s comforting.

He finds Johnny in the wide living room, sitting on the couch with Taeil tucked into his side. They turn when they hear him, the old wooden floorboards creaking beneath his feet.

“Hi, thanks for the pajamas.”

Taeil smiles and nods, “Glad to see they fit.”

Johnny unravels himself from Taeil, leading Ten into the kitchen. Ten sits at the island counter as Johnny sets a warm plate of spaghetti in front of him.

“You want beer? Wine?”

“You got any wine coolers?”

“Hell yeah.” Johnny reaches into the fridge, drawing out a glass bottle from the back. He pops the cap off with his hand and sets the bottle down in front of him. “There ya go.”

“Thanks,” he takes a long swig and sighs when he sets the chilled bottle down, digging into the heaping plate of spaghetti.

“Rough day?”

“Not really. Like any other day,” he says around his mouthful. “How was Yangyang?”

“Fine. He watched the tv with the other kids for a while before Hyuckie dragged him away to play house, like every other day. And don’t worry, we already talked to Hyuck about scenting others.”

Ten smiles a little. “Well then, I guess my baby doesn’t have a problem with it since I bring him home smelling like caramel coffee.”

Johnny grins excitedly. “Ten, our kids are gonna date each other.”

“We’ll see… Might just be puppy love, you know–” he sips his wine–“Hey, one of my coworkers has a pup that they’re wanting to put in daycare and I recommended you but they’re poor like the rest of us and were hoping to get a bit of discount.”

Taeil comes up, sitting beside him. “How old is the kid?”

“I think he’s 5, recently adopted, and from what I’m told he’s a good kid, a shy little alpha.”

Johnny quirks a brow, “They have the money to adopt a pup though.”

“Yeah–” Ten twirls his fork in the last of his spaghetti–“I think his mate is a pharmacist or a store clerk. I can’t remember, but I gave him your number. His name is Doyoung Jung Kim.”

“We’ll keep him in mind then,” Taeil says, picking up Ten’s empty plate and handing it to Johnny to put in the sink. “We’re gonna go to bed. You’re welcome to anything in the house, ok?”

Ten nods, hugging Taeil. “Thank you for the lunch. It was really good.”

Taeil smiles and hugs Ten back, pecking his temple softly. “You’re family, Ten. Don’t forget.”

Ten nods, watching as the couple walk off, bidding him goodnight. He waits a moment, downs the rest of his wine, and gets rid of the bottle. He takes his uniform to where their laundry machines are in a back closet and sets it to start along with Yangyang’s clothes.

He waits in the living room, curled in on himself tucked into the couch, listening to the few cars still driving past this late at night. He’s full and worn to the bone… but he’ll just wait to put their clothes in the dryer and then he’ll get into bed with his baby… just a little longer. He sighs, pulling the cover strewn over the back of the couch over himself.

He’ll close his eyes… _just a little longer_.

  
  


“Momma.”

Weight presses down on his chest.

“Momma.”

The familiar scent of dried herbs and flowers enters his nose.

“Mommaaaaa.”

“Mm?”

“Wake up, momma.”

Ten sighs, wrapping his arms around his pup, pulling him close. Yangyang giggles, struggling in his mother’s arms.

“It’s time to wake up, momma!”

Ten slowly squints his eyes open, “Five more minutes.”

“No, momma,” Yangyang giggles. “Johnny made pancakes.”

“Mmm, I guess I’ll get up.”

Yangyang grins and slides off of him, tumbling to the ground and running off towards the kitchen. He sits up with a yawn, running a hand through his unruly hair.

“Good morning, Ten!”

He looks over to see Taeil in the entry hall with his six-year-old son, Yukhei. The little alpha pup grins wide in his direction.

“Good morning, baby. You goin’ to school?”

“Mhm!”

“Well, have a good day at school.”

“Thanks!”

Taeil smiles, holding Yukhei’s hand tightly, “Ten, don’t forget your lunch, ok? Bye.” And with that, he walks out. Ten yawns again, stretching as he stands and makes his way to the kitchen where Yangyang is giggling wildly, arms and legs wrapped around Johnny’s leg.

“Those are your pancakes, Ten-Ten,” Johnny chuckles, gesturing at the plate on the counter with its stack of 3.

“This is too much,” Ten says, eyeing the pancakes.

Johnny grins, slowly walking towards the living room with Yangyang still glued to his leg. “Good. You need it. You’re so skinny! And I’d hurry if I were you, kids will be getting here soon.”

“Gee, thanks,” Ten mumbles, starting on the pancakes. He hurriedly eats them all and washes it all down with cold milk before setting his plate in the sink. He starts into the spare room to change into his uniform, not expecting to see it laid out on the bed, clean and ironed. 

He gulps down the emotions threatening to spill out like water from a boiling pot and dresses quickly, heading into the bathroom to comb out his hair. An unopened toothbrush waits for him there and he brushes his teeth quickly, setting it in the cup with Yangyang’s when he’s done. 

He hurries out of the room, distracted, thinking of which bus to take when he runs smack dab into a solid figure.

“Johnny, watch where yo-”

He looks up to meet dark eyes and this is _definitely not_ Johnny, and why is this person so _familiar_.

“Who the hell are you?”

Johnny comes from the living room, rounding the corner. “Ten, this is Taeyong. He’s gonna be helping out around here from now.”

“Helping what?”

“Take care of the pups.”

Taeyong bows his head politely, “Hi, it’s nice to properly meet you.”

Ten quirks a brow, “I’m sorry but… where do I know you from?”

Yangyang comes running up then, hugging his mother’s leg. He gasps when he sees Taeyong and pulls on Ten’s slacks. “Momma, that’s the alpha that helped me on the bus! Hi, mister!”

_Alpha?!_

Taeyong smiles kindly and waves, “Hi.”

But Ten’s blood runs cold, freezing his limbs. No mating mark mars the alpha’s neck and he takes a visibly concerning step back as he turns to look at Johnny, one hand unconsciously holding Yangyang close to himself.

“Johnny, do I have to take my pup with me?”

The tall alpha frowns, eyebrows quirking up. “Ten, we’ve known Taeyong for a long time and we trust him, ok? He’s good people.”

“I have a pup too,” Taeyong says, softly, friendly. It makes Ten’s blood boil. “Mark Lee!”

The cute little kid that Taeyong was carrying on his back yesterday comes running from the kitchen and stares up at his father. “Yea?”

Taeyong smiles and crouches to be eye-level with his son. “You remember Yangyang, right?” He asks with a nod of his head.

Mark glances over at Yangyang, standing firm with his mother, and smiles wide. “Yeah! Hi!”

Yangyang waves shyly and looks up at Ten. “Momma, can I play with him?”

“Uh- I mean, yeah, baby. Yeah, go ahead.”

The kids smile wide and race off towards the living room.

“Do you like playing cowboys?”

“Yeah, I’ll be sheriff!”

Their conversation dissolves into giddy chatter until the adults can’t make out what’s being said. Taeyong stands and Johnny pats Ten’s shoulder lightly.

Ten shakes his head, “I gotta get to work.” He slips past Johnny, headed for the door, and stops in the living room. “Bye, baby!”

Yangyang looks over and grins, “Bye, momma!” The pup is quick to return to playing with his new friend.

Ten tries not to feel hurt and grabs his bag from the rack by the door before stepping out. Johnny follows him with a worried look on his face.

“Hey, Ten-”

“Johnny, if that _alpha_ in there so much as hurts a strand of hair on my baby, I am holding _you_ accountable.”

“I-”

“You understand, Johnny? I’m being dead serious.”

“Ten, trust me. I know Taeyong, ok? He’s not just some knothead.”

“Doubtful.”

“Ten.”

“I don’t have time for this right now… Just don’t let anything happen to my Yangyang, ok? That’s all. He’s all I have, Johnny.”

“I know–” the tall alpha looks down and glances up again with a resolute gleam in his eyes–“He’s safe with us, Ten-Ten.”

Ten exhales softly. “Bye, Johnny.”

“Bye.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all liked this :)  
> Can y'all tell I'm stuck on Ghibli movies?  
> Honestly, I'm not sure where I'm heading with this. I think it's gonna be a short sweet little fic, unless I get more ideas lol.
> 
> I hope you're all keeping safe and healthy and sane. <3


	2. Chapter 2

Ten slips on his robe, tying the sash around his waist as he crosses the room to the window overlooking the street. He yanks it open as the stench of cigarettes fills his bedroom and looks over to see the alpha on the other side of the bed, cigarette hanging from her lips as she dresses.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t smoke in here.”

She glances over at him, arching a brow as she fishes in her wallet for a few bills, tossing them onto the bed. “Yeah, sure,” she mumbles and walks out of the bedroom. He follows, making sure she leaves the apartment, but the alpha stops in the hallway, sniffling at Yangyang’s door, her hand already reaching for the doorknob.

He quickly steps forward forcing himself in the space between her and the door. “Please leave-”

His cheek stings, vision sent whirling, and he’s suddenly on the floor. The alpha stands over him, an irritated look distorting her features. “Learn your place, you omega slut.” She scoffs when he stays on the ground, refusing to look up at her, and makes for the door.

The front door creaks open and slams shut. Ten scrambles to his feet and locks the door in a hurry in case she decides to come back for another round. His face hurts and he would really like to hold his baby in his arms and make sure he’s ok, but he has to clean everything first, to get rid of everything that happened.

He counts the bills on the bed and grits his teeth when it’s less than they had agreed on. This is going to set him back… He puts the money away, replaces the sheets on his bed, and sprays everything down with disinfectant, his bedroom floor, the carpeted hallway, the front door. Then he goes into the bathroom, reaching under the sink for a brown little bottle.

The bond safeguard is scratched and indented on his neck from the alpha trying to bite through it. He untwists the cap of the brown bottle and draws out the brush, smearing the serum over the clear film protecting his neck of unwanted mating marks. The film starts dissolving and he puts the serum bottle away, back under the sink. His face still hurts and his cheek has a seemingly permanent blush.

_That’s gonna get worse…_

He gets an ice pack from the fridge and presses it to his sore cheek. Rounding the corner into the hall, he sees Yangyang poking his head out of his room cautiously until he catches sight of him at the end of the hall. “Momma?” He whispers.

“It’s ok, baby. They’re gone.”

“What happened? Are you ok, momma?” Yangyang steps out of his room as Ten approaches, sinking to his knees to be face-level with the five-year-old. He lets Yangyang pull the ice pack away from his cheek and feels his little hand gently brush his hair away from his face to look at the bruise beginning to form.

Yangyang glares when he sees it, “Momma, what happened? Momma, did that alpha hit you?!”

Ten shushes him, wrapping his arms around the pup. “I’m ok, baby. It’s ok.”

“You’re hurt, momma!”

“It was an accident.”

“No, it wasn’t!” Yangyang growls and then sniffles, tears spill over his cheeks and he presses his face to Ten’s cheek, kissing it gently as he hugs his neck. Ten tries not to cry too and fails, hugging his baby as closely as he can. “I-I don’t want you t-to get hurt, momma.”

Yangyang wipes Ten’s tears away and presses their foreheads together, sniffling. “I’m gonna grow really really big and I’ll protect you, momma, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Ten smiles slightly and nuzzles their noses together.

“I love you, momma.”

“I love you too, baby.”

Yangyang doesn’t let go of him when they shower and even after when they have dinner. The beta pup refuses to leave his side even as he’s nodding off.

“Baby, time for bed.”

“Can I sleep with you, momma?”

“But you have your own bed, baby.”

Yangyang whines and whimpers, curling further into him, “Please, momma.”

“Ok… ok, baby.”

His son follows behind him like a sleepy shadow as he cleans up their dinner. More patties and rice tonight, but he can tell Yangyang is growing tired of it so they’ll get something different when they go shopping tomorrow. They brush their teeth side by side in the bathroom and then head to the master bedroom.

Yangyang stands by the door as Ten closes the window, the smell of cigarette aired out. “Come, baby.” He smiles and holds out a hand. Yangyang cautiously steps forward and then runs over to his mother’s side.

Ten picks him up and tosses him onto the bed. Yangyang shrieks and giggles with delight, clambering to get under the covers with Ten as he slides into bed. Ten lays down on his side and Yangyang presses himself close to his chest, face tucked in his neck.

“Comfy, baby?”

“Mhm.”

“Good,” he wraps Yangyang up in his arms and smiles when he feels him nuzzle his scent gland.

“Goodnight, momma.”

“Goodnight, baby.”

Ten listens to Yangyang’s soft breathing, waits for his pup to fall asleep. He thinks if his life were a movie, this would be the part where he admires his little baby and cries himself to sleep. But it’s not. And he doesn’t shed a tear. He chose this life. He chose to whore himself out to get his pup away from their life of scraps. After all, beggars can’t be choosers, right?

~~~

Ten holds onto Yangyang’s hand tightly, leading him through the mall. His son follows beside him, stumbling over his feet as he stares down at his new white, black, and yellow sneakers. There’s a lot of people here, it being the weekend and all, and Ten’s glad he brought his face mask. 

He doesn’t understand how others can walk around with everyone’s scents up in the air, combining and muddling into one unpleasant smell. Or maybe it’s just him. Johnny always told him he has a good nose. He looks down at Yangyang, who’s still staring down at his new sneakers, admiring them. His son insisted on wearing them immediately and who was he to tell him no?

“Baby.”

Yangyang looks up, his race car print face mask snuggly covering up half his face.

“Do you wanna go ahead and buy Hyuck’s present?”

The pup raises a hand to mess with the band of the face mask over the bridge of his nose, his voice muffled behind it. “But his birthday is on Saturday, momma.”

“We can go ahead and buy it though, right? Do you know what toys he likes?”

Yangyang nods and follows his mother through oceans of people until they’re in a toy store, colors yellow, red, and blue stand out happily along with the variety of toys, like a labyrinth of fun. Ten glances down at his awestruck pup and smiles, “Well?”

“What?”

“Lead the way, baby.”

Yangyang grins wide, the only evidence is the way his eyes curl into cute half-moons behind his bangs as he tugs on Ten’s hand, leading him through the store. He leads him into the electronics section in the back. 

_Oh shit, what’s he gonna choose? Please no game system._

The pup stops in front of a game display and presses his little finger against the glass. Ten crouches next to him. “That game right there?”

Yangyang nods.

“Does Hyuckie even have the system for that?”

“No, but Johnny said that’s what they’re giving him.”

“Oh wow, he told you?”

Yangyang nods and smiles, “I’m good at keeping secrets.”

“And you’re sure that’s a game Hyuckie will like?” It’s only 35 dollars but he’s learned by now those few dollars make a huge difference when it comes to being homeless or not.

“Mhm. We saw it on the tv.”

“Well, alright.” Ten stands and waves one of the teenage attendants over. Yangyang watches with excitement burning in his eyes, bouncing on the balls of his feet as the teenager undoes the lock on the glass and gets the game out. She smiles as she hands it to Yangyang and turns to lock up the display again. Ten says thank you as they walk off and glances down at his son. “Baby, you want me to hold it?”

“Nuh-uh. I can do it!”

“But you can’t pick out a toy with your hands full.” Yangyang stops in his tracks, staring up at Ten, it makes him laugh. He takes the game out of his hands and nods towards the aisles, and that’s enough for Yangyang to grab the hem of Ten’s shirt and lead him into the jungle of toys again.

It’s how he ends up watching his son debate over what toy he wants while sitting on the checkered tiled floor of the store.

“The dinosaur is cool, look, the tail and legs move–” Yangyang picks up the blue and red figurine, demonstrating how the jaws open and close when the legs move–“And it could beat up Superman, even!”

“Wow, even Superman? What about Spiderman?”

Yangyang shakes his head vigorously, an offended look on his face, his mask is pulled down to his chin, “No one can beat Spiderman!! Miles Morales never loses!”

“Everybody loses sometimes.” Yangyang glares down at the dinosaur in its box. Ten reaches forward to tilt his chin up. “But what matters is no matter how many times you get knocked down…”

“You gotta get back up!” Yangyang grins. “Like you, momma!”

“That’s right, baby,” Ten smirks, winking as he swipes his thumb over Yangyang’s nose playfully. Yangyang smiles wide and giggles. “So what has the council decided?”

“Mmm–” he looks down bashfully–“Can I have all three?”

“Nah, nah-”

“-I’ll take good care of them!-”

“-Nah, nah, nah-”

“-I won’t lose them!-”

“-Not listeniiing to yooouuuuuu.” 

Yangyang giggles and hugs onto Ten’s arm. “Mommaaaaaaa!”

“You may have two, one’s gotta go, baby.”

Yangyang’s gaze flickers between the dinosaur, the train set, and a teddy bear. He picks up the train set and returns it to its spot on the shelf.

“There we go. That wasn’t so tough, huh?” Ten murmurs, rising to his feet, the chosen golden teddy bear in his hands along with Donghyuck’s present.

Yangyang follows beside him with his boxed dinosaur in his hands. “I don’t want the train cause the other kids would wanna play with it so then I can’t take it to Johnny and Mr. Taeil’s and it would just be at home all the time and it can’t be at home cause it makes noise.”

“That’s some solid logic, baby. How are you so smart?”

“What’s logic?”

“It means whatever you said makes sense. It’s… reasonable, you know?”

“What’s reason-able?”

“Reasonable, not reason-able. It means good sense, clear thinking, you know what you’re about.”

“I’m about you,” Yangyang murmurs as they approach the self-manned cash registers.

Ten snorts and chuckles, scanning the three toys. “What?”

“I’m smart like you.”

“That’s right, baby.” The toys are placed in a plastic bag and Yangyang insists on carrying the bag on his own as Ten pays.

“I can do it! I’m super strong!”

“I know you are, baby. Just don’t lose the bag, ok? You gotta protect that bag with your life.”

Yangyang’s eyes widen as his mother crouches to face him. “With my life?”

“It’s a figure of speech. You gotta pretend you’re me and that bag is you, understand?” Ten asks, adjusting Yangyang’s face mask over his nose again.

“So–” he lifts the bag to hug it to his chest the best he can with the oddly-shaped objects inside–“like this? You gotta brush your teeth and eat all your food!” He reprimands the bag.

Ten quirks an eyebrow and frowns. “That’s what I sound like to you?”

“Wait, momma! I’m not done!” He clears his throat and closes his eyes to press his covered mouth to the bag, smacking his lips loudly. “Mwah! I love you, baby, so so so so so so so so much!”

Ten smiles and narrows his eyes, standing and leading Yangyang out of the store. “I think you’re kissing butt now cause you want pretzels.”

“But you do love me and give me kissies.”

“Yeah, I love you, and you’re so handsome, I can’t help giving you kisses, but only me, ok? Don’t let anyone else kiss you.”

Yangyang glares up at Ten, tugging on his hand. “Then I can only give you kissies too.”

“Taeil gives me kisses sometimes and so does Johnny.”

Yangyang gasps as Ten stops in the line for the pretzel stand, his son is too busy trying to come up with a comeback for their play argument to notice.

“W-Well, I get kissies too!”

“Oh yeah, from who?”

“I’m not telling you!”

“Are they from Kitty?”

Yangyang shakes his head, “Kitty can’t give kissies. They don’t have lips.”

“True. So then who is giving you kisses? I bet it’s Taeil or Johnny.”

“Nope!” Yangyang’s eyes curve all slick-like. Ten can tell he’s smirking under his mask. Are five-year-olds supposed to be that sassy this early on?

“You want cinnamon or normal, baby?”

Yangyang then realizes where they are and hops in glee. “Can we get both?! Please! Please!”

“Sure thing, baby.”

“Yessssss!!!”

They get their little bag of pretzel bits, one normal salted, and the other cinnamon sugar. Ten takes the toy bag from Yangyang and lets him hold onto their baggies. He carries him on his hip from there, not completely trusting his son’s ability to walk and eat without dropping anything.

“Where we goin’, momma?” Yangyang asks, cinnamon sugar on his lips and cheeks, mask pulled down to his chin.

“We’re going for groceries. I think we should switch up our diet, you know, keep things interesting for our tummies.”

“What if we eat more pretzels?”

“Mmm, I don’t think so. Pretzels are more of a snack, you need real food.”

Yangyang giggles, wiping his hand clean on his jeans before pulling his mother’s mask down to feed him one of the salted pretzels. Ten smiles when Yangyang giggles wildly as he takes the pretzel bit and pretends to bite his little fingers too. His son pulls his mask back up as he chews, navigating out of the mall.

It’s a humid day today. Few clouds float above, threatening to sprinkle in their grey wispy form and the sun, always shining, peeks through them. Warmth envelops their little corner of the world in that uncomfortable way that makes everything feel sticky. The mask on his face is doing nothing to help, it feels as if his face is sweating.

“Momma.”

“Hm?”

The pup splays his hand out in front of his face as they wait on the corner of the street for the light to change. The cinnamon sugar and salt he was wiping off on his jeans is now sticking to his hands, between his digits.

“Well, that’s not good.”

“It’s a no-no,” Yangyang murmurs. “It feels icky.”

“I’m glad you feel that way because it _looks_ icky.” Yangyang smiles. “Ok, can you wait a minute while we cross the street?”

“Yes, momma.”

“Thank you.”

The signal comes on and they make their way across, past cars rumbling in the lanes and glinting in the sun.

“Momma.”

“Yes, baby?”

“What kind of cars do you like?”

“I like cars that are cheap.”

Yangyang smiles, “I like red cars.”

“Like fire trucks?”

“Yeah! Fire trucks are super cool! When I grow up, I wanna be a firefighter!”

Ten snorts, “Last week you wanted to be a racer.”

“I wanna be both!”

“You can.”

“Taeyong used to be a firefighter,” Yangyang says as if Ten _doesn’t_ harbor a mix of fear and anger towards the alpha, towards all alphas really… except Johnny. Johnny would always be an exception. The tall alpha was his best friend and stuck with him through everything even on the rare occasion that they argued… He owes him a lot.

Ten hums noncommittally and stops under the shade of a tree at the end of the lot of the supermarket. “Did you finish all your pretzels?”

Yangyang looks into the yellow and white bag. “I have two more.”

“You wanna save them for later?”

Yangyang nods.

“Ok, I need you to hold onto them really quick–” Ten lowers his son, setting him down on his feet before crouching and drawing out wipes from his bag slung over his shoulder–“Here you go, baby. Clean your hands real good while I put these away, ok?”

“Yes, momma,” Yangyang exchanges the two baggies of pretzels for the wipe, bundling it up in his hands to clean them off as Ten rolls up the bags and puts them into the bag with the toys and then puts that bag in his. “Momma… I think I messed up.”

He turns back to his pup to see the wipe and Yangyang’s little hands full of cinnamon sugar and he sighs, taking the wipe, “My baby don’t know how to do stuff.”

Yangyang smiles, eyebrows twitching up as Ten flicks the annoying sugar off the wipe and then uses it to envelop his hand, starting from his palm and cleaning down to his fingers.

“You gotta learn, ok?”

Yangyang nods, splaying out his hands, stretching his fingers out as much as he can. Ten cleans between the little fingers and gets rid of the soiled wipe in a trash can sitting nearby. Yangyang smiles. “All clean!”

“Yeah, baby. Come on,” Ten holds out a hand and Yangyang takes it, trying to curl his fingers over his mother’s but ultimately failing. They look both ways before crossing into the lot and starting towards the store, stopping a few times as cars pull out of their places and drive off to be replaced with other cars.

Making it to the front, Yangyang demands riding in the shopping cart. Ten hefts him up and into the back of the cart. “You’re groceries now, baby.”

Yangyang giggles and sits with his back towards his mother so he can help navigate the vessel. “What are we getting first, momma?”

“I think we should get some stuff for lunch first.”

“That way!” Yangyang points towards one of the aisles, past flower and vegetable stands. He wheels through, not bothering to get any produce since it rots fast and Yangyang gets all his veggies from Johnny and Taeil’s designated snack time within the daycare. Jars with all sorts of jam fill the aisle at one end, the loaves upon loaves of bread sit at the other.

“So we feeling more peanut butter and strawberry jam or peanut butter and grape jelly?”

Yangyang hums, rubbing a hand over his chin as if he has a great beard. “What does the chef recommend?”

Ten clears his throat, rounding the cart to hold up two jars of peanut butter and grape jelly before his son, “The chef thinks your tastebuds will love the classic choice.”

Yangyang narrows his eyes at the jars before turning away, arms crossed over his chest, “Very well.”

Ten smiles, kissing the top of his head before setting the jars down in the cart with him. He pushes the cart along, reaching for two loaves of bread in yellow and red packaging. 

“Momma.”

“Yeah?” He’s struggling to reach the bread on the higher shelves. Why the _fuck_ would they move it up higher?

“Can we get chicken nuggets? The dinosaur ones?”

“Uh, yeah, baby, but you wanna help me with something real quick?”

“Mhm!”

Yangyang stands as he approaches. “Ok, I’m gonna lift you and you’re gonna grab two loaves, can you do that?”

“I can do it!”

“Good, I knew you could. Alright–” he lifts him by his hips– “Here we go.” He walks back over to the shelves and lifts Yangyang as high as he can.

“This yellow one?”

“Does it say ‘Sunbeam’?”

“It doesn’t say anything, momma. Bread can’t talk.”

Ten deadpans, “Little boy, I will whup you.”

Yangyang giggles. “I got it, momma.”

Ten hefts Yangyang down, back into their cart. The boy makes himself comfortable against the back and sets the loaves of bread on his lap as Ten pushes the cart along, collecting more items until they’re in the freezer section. He’s looking over the chicken nuggets, checking the prices, Yangyang is still in the cart with the food, hugging his mother’s bag to himself.

“Momma.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Can I marry you?”

The question catches Ten off-guard and he snorts, turning around with an approved bag of nuggies for his pup. “What?”

Yangyang nods, “Cause I love you and I can take care of you.”

Ten arches a brow, “Baby, you’re too young to get married.”

“When I’m older!”

“I’ll be older too. Though I really doubt you’ll still feel the same.”

“I will!” Yangyang insists, grabbing onto Ten’s arm when he nears.

Ten smiles and leans down to kiss his forehead. “Sure thing, baby. Wait till after puberty.”

“What’s puberty?”

“It’s a special time in your life when your nose gets better and you start feeling all sorts of things… intensely.”

“That sounds kind of fun.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too, but you won’t have to worry about that stuff till you’re bigger.”

Yangyang smiles as they stop in the line for the registers. “There’s new kids in the daycare.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm–” Yangyang holds up three fingers–“two of them are my age and the other one is a baby.”

“A baby?”

“He’s smaller than us.”

“You’re a baby, baby.”

Yangyang purposefully ignores that statement, “His name is Chenle. And the others are Jeno and Renjun. Renjun and Chenle know Chinese too.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm.”

“Do you talk to them in Chinese?”

“Sometimes. Not really.”

“Why not?”

“It’s hard, momma.”

Ten chuckles, “Yeah, it is.”

“But also, cause Jeno and Renjun play with Jaemin mostly, and Chenle is always following behind Mr. Taeil.”

“And you?”

“I play with Mark and Ducky.”

“Interesting.” 

Yangyang giggles as Ten pulls the scanner close, pretending to scan his forehead. “How much am I, momma?”

“You're priceless, baby.”

~~~

Saturday comes and with it brings clear and sunny skies, seemingly matching the little boy celebrating his birthday, turning 6 years old on this home of a planet. What a planet. And of course, the little omega son, equal parts Moon and Suh, wants his birthday party to be held at a skatepark. Now _that’s_ usually an hour bus ride, but both Johnny and Taeil insisted he tag along with them, and, boy, did they insist.

Sitting snug between Donghyuck and Yukhei in their car seats with Yangyang in his lap, he _knows_ Taeil told Johnny about the bus incident that happened a few weeks back. Yangyang has Donghyuck’s gift held in his lap. And the omega baby fights against his restraints to try and look in the multi-colored bag, through the sparkly tissue paper, all while chattering with Yangyang, trying to bargain with him.

Meanwhile, Yukhei’s in his other ear, going on and on about his school, about the songs they teach them, and the games they play, going “Uncle Ten” every few sentences to make sure he’s listening, which he kind of… sort of is. He catches Johnny’s eyes in the rearview and shakes his head when the alpha smirks. How the couple in the front is able to withstand the combined excited chatter of the two pups is beyond him. He’s so lucky Yangyang came out on the quieter side.

Being the first ones there means they have to set up all the party stuff. Taeil takes it upon himself to watch the three pups while he and Johnny put everything together. Johnny nears with the boxed cake and aluminum trays of hot dogs as Ten tapes down the balloons to one end of the metal grate park table.

“How many people did you invite again?” He asks as he opens the packets of sunflower-themed plates and napkins.

“Hyuckie invited all his little friends. So that’s–” he stops to look up as he counts–“about… 21 people, including us. I mean we invited more, but that’s how many people confirmed, you know?”

Ten nods as he helps Johnny bring the lemonade jugs over to the table from the back of their SUV. Not long after and the rest of the party arrives, a few couples with their pups show up, all strangers to Ten, save for Doyoung and Jaehyun. He sits aside with them as the pups play with Donghyuck leading them all in a game of tag or something, Ten isn’t really sure what they’re playing but as long as his pup is happy, then all’s good.

“Feels weird sitting here with you,” Doyoung murmurs, smiling as he leans into his mate’s side. The alpha has an arm comfortably around Doyoung’s shoulders, his eyes trained on their two pups, playing along with everyone else.

“Cause we’re not working?” Ten smirks.

“Yeah, no dryers or washing machines.”

Ten hums in agreement.

Doyoung sighs happily, letting his eyes flutter closed when a cool breeze blows through. Jaehyun smiles, butting his nose gently against his mate’s cheek before turning to Ten. “He tells me all about what you two gossip about every time he gets off work.”

Ten smiles, “Really?”

Jaehyun nods, “Always.”

“I don’t think the petty little things us, omegas, chatter on about would interest a smart alpha like you.”

Jaehyun shakes his head, sitting up then, “It’s the most interesting part of my day. I love hearing all about Mr. Johnson’s cuckold of a husband and the beta he’s been seeing.”

Doyoung guffaws and quickly presses a hand over his mouth, swatting at Jaehyun’s thigh, “Not so loud, Jae!” Jaehyun chuckles, holding his mate closer to himself.

Ten smiles, watching the two. Mated alphas are tolerable, they aren’t as quick to anger or dangerous as a lone alpha is, though that changes from case to case. Sometimes mated alphas can be the worst of them all, but only because of how annoying they become when they alphasplain everything. But Jaehyun seems a little more tamer than most alphas would be, showing interest in his pups, not to mention the fact he’s never seen Doyoung with any hidden bruises in the 2 years he’s been working with him.

“Doyoung’s words, not mine,” Jaehyun shrugs with a small chuckle.

“Yeah, that sounds like him alright.”

“Hey, everyone! Time for cake and gifts!” Johnny hollers with his hands cupped around his mouth.

The trio leave their post on the bench to join the growing crowd around the table, well, _after_ they locate their children. Yangyang is sitting between Yukhei and Jungwoo, adorably small compared to the two older kids. Donghyuck sits at the end of the table with a purple cape tied on and a king’s crown on his head, smiling wide. His brother sits to his left and Mark sits to his right.

The little omega opens his presents, politely thanking all the senders until he opens one of the last gifts: a pup doll, the kind you’re supposed to take care of as if it’s a real pup. Ten immediately likes Donghyuck a lot more when he scrunches up his nose in distaste, staring at the baby with a revolted look on his tiny face. “What am I suppose to do with _this_ ? I don’t want _this crap_ -”

Johnny clears his throat and Donghyuck cuts off his rant, plastering on a fake smile and half-heartedly thanking the sender of the gift. Then they sing happy birthday and Taeil cuts up the cake, passing out small slices for the pups and more for their parents. Yangyang takes his plate of cake, walking around adults slowly all while carefully balancing his slice to get to his mother, standing off to the side.

“Hey, baby. Having fun?” Ten crouches to be near his pup, holding his own plate.

Yangyang nods, the little pointed party hat sitting straight up on his head.

“Do you need help cutting your cake?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright, you hold this one, hold momma’s?” Yangyang exchanges the plates so his mother can slice his up into cute little squares. Ten does it carefully and quickly before presenting the plate to his pup. “Ta-da!”

Yangyang smiles, taking his plate, “Thank you, momma.”

“That’s gonna cost you a kiss, kiddo.”

Yangyang giggles and leans close to peck his mother’s cheek. Ten smiles wide, turning his face to peck Yangyang’s cheek too. He loves this kid so much, geezus. He’d ruffle his hair if it weren’t for the party hat in the way.

“Ducky really liked your gift. Did you see?”

Yangyang nods around his fork, stuffing chocolate cake into his mouth like a little garbage disposal. Ten uses his napkin to wipe frosting from his pup’s face. They move to sit at the table as people start leaving until the only ones left are he and Yangyang, Johnny and Taeil, and their new co-worker, the one Ten doesn’t completely trust yet.

“Mama! I wanna do the bowl!” Donghyuck yells, tugging on Taeil’s arm.

Taeil smiles, “Ok, get your helmet, babie.”

Yangyang and Mark follow curiously as Taeil grabs a skateboard from his car and walks over to one of the few bowls of the skatepark, Donghyuck follows close behind, cape and crown given to his father as he tries to strap the helmet on by himself. Johnny folds the party decor away while Yukhei plays on his father’s phone. The other adult alpha helps Johnny clean up and Ten watches Yukhei play, running a hand over the alpha pup’s hair.

“What a party,” Johnny murmurs when Taeyong walks off to return the leftover cake to his car.

Ten smiles and nods, “It went very well. Not too much chaos.”

Johnny chuckles, “Yeah.”

The duo look over when they hear Donghyuck giggling loudly, standing between Taeil’s legs, holding his mother’s hands as Taeil skates along the curved sides of the bowl. They watch as both Yangyang and Mark get a turn too, both pups hesitant at first but then gaining confidence and laughing as Taeil skates round and round.

Taeil joins them after a while, skateboard and helmet in hand. The pups are back to playing on their own in no time. “Where’s Yong?” Taeil asks as he sits with them.

Johnny gestures over to where the alpha is on his phone. “Probably someone important, he keeps pacing around.”

Taeil turns to Yukhei, glued to the phone, “Babie, you don’t wanna go play with your brother?” Yukhei shakes his head, still stuck to the phone. “What are you doing?”

Yukhei looks up with a wide smile, “Texting my friend!”

“Can I see?”

Yukhei hands over the phone and Taeil quirks an eyebrow, reading the gibberish his son is typing out and sending. His friend is also sending gibberish. He leans over, showing Johnny and Ten, who both have a hard time not laughing. “This is Jaehyun’s number,” Johnny chuckles.

“Mhm! I’m texting Jungwoo. He’s my friend!” Yukhei smiles as Taeil hands the phone back, grabbing at the device with his grubby hands.

Ten shakes his head with a chuckle and keeps running a hand through the pup’s hair, stroking it away from his face, until he feels a hand on his cheek, fingers stroking softly. He turns to smile at Taeil but he stops when he sees the older omega’s face, dead serious. And then Johnny notices and Ten wishes he had used more make up.

“Ten, what happened to you?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? You have a bruise on your face,” his best friend nearly growls.

Johnny’s always been slow to anger so this is new, but Ten isn’t about to admit he’s been sleeping around for money.

“Ten.”

“Nothing. Happened. It was an accident.”

“An accident?!” Johnny slams a hand down on the table, startling everyone, even Yukhei, who flinches and nearly drops the phone.

But all the adults' attention is drawn away when they hear a pup wail. They all look over to see Donghyuck crying loudly as Yangyang and Mark tussle on the ground. 

_Oh shit._

Ten ups and runs to grab his pup. “Yangyang!” The beta pup has Mark pinned as they exchange kiddie punches and even as he pulls him off, Yangyang keeps thrashing around and kicking. “Yangyang! Cut it out! What’s gotten into you?!” He hugs Yangyang close, carrying him away and setting him down as Donghyuck is comforted by his parents and Mark is checked on by Taeyong.

Yangyang glares towards where Mark stands, his fists clenched at his sides. 

“Yangyang, look at me, baby.”

The pup slowly tears his gaze away to look up at his mother, chest rising and falling rapidly.

“I need you to calm down and tell me what happened. Why are you fighting, baby? I didn’t teach you that.”

Behind him, he hears Donghyuck blubbering loudly to his parents, still teary. He glances over to see Taeyong hugging his baby close, the little alpha pup crying into his shoulder. He turns back to his own pup, still glaring daggers at everything that moves. “Yangyang?”

“I hate alphas…” He quietly rumbles.

Ten opens his mouth, but he’s speechless. “I- What, baby? Why do you hate alphas?”

“Because an _alpha_ hurt you… and Mark is an _alpha_ …”

“Baby, that’s not a reason. You’re not being reasonable right now.”

Yangyang growls when he catches sight of Mark again, the other pup is still sniffling and sticking close to his father.

“Yangyang! Quit it. You do not hate alphas. Why are you being like this?”

“Because he stole my friend!” Yangyang hiccups and glares down at the ground, shoulders quivering as he raises his fists to wipe his eyes. “D-Ducky d-doesn’t play with me no more. He only plays with _him_.” And then the dam really breaks and Yangyang’s full-on sobbing. 

Ten sighs and hugs him close, letting Yangyang slobber into his neck, crying and trying to sniffle at his scent gland all at the same time. He strokes a hand over his back and kisses the top of his head. “Baby, I’m sorry Hyuckie doesn’t play with you anymore, but that doesn’t mean you take it out on others, ok? What you did was wrong, you understand that?”

“But, m-momma-”

“No, baby. That’s not a reason to fight, ok? You need to apologize to Mark and Hyuckie, understand?”

Yangyang sniffles and holds on tighter. “After?”

Ten sighs and smiles, rubbing his hands over his son’s back. “Ok, a few more cuddles and then we’re saying sorry.” He glances over his son’s head, Johnny is holding Donghyuck up on one arm, cooing and pulling silly faces to make his baby smile. Donghyuck mimics his father but he’s still sniffling. Taeil is hugging Yukhei, who keeps looking up at his baby brother with concern. And off to the side, Taeyong is kneeling, peppering his son’s face with kisses. Mark smiles and giggles at the attention his father gives him… He’s never seen an alpha do that…

He tears his eyes away from the sight and turns back to Yangyang, patting his butt lightly. “Ready, baby?” Yangyang sniffles and pulls away, nodding. Ten smiles, tilting his chin up, “I love you, baby, so much.”

Yangynag nods, meeting his mother’s eyes, his eyes stray to the exposed bruise on his cheek and he bites at the inside of his cheek, “I love you too, momma.”

Ten smiles, booping Yangyang’s nose softly before standing, taking his son’s hand and leading him over to where Johnny and Taeil stand. He squeezes Yangyang’s hand encouragingly and the beta pup steps forward, tilting his head back till he can see Donghyuck’s face.

“D-Ducky, I’m sorry I scared you… and that I made you cry… I d-don’t like seeing you cry, Ducky…”

Donghyuck sniffles and wiggles until Johnny sets him down. “Why did you do that, Yangie?”

“B-Because I didn’t like that you play more with Mark now…”

“Mark is just my friend, Yangie. You’re still my boyfriend,” Donghyuck smiles and hugs Yangyang, who blushes and hugs back.

Taeil clears his throat, eyes narrowed at Donghyuck. The pup steps away with a sly smirk, “I forgive you, Yangie.”

Yangyang smiles and Ten squeezes his hand, “Good job, baby. Come on.” He slowly steers Yangyang away from Johnny and Taeil and towards Taeyong and Mark. Ten swallows down the nerves that start building as he approaches the single alpha and his son. Yangyang hesitates in front of the duo, but Mark steps forward right away, “Yangyang, I’m sorry for whatever I did that made you mad.”

Yangyang and Ten are rendered speechless.

“I won’t do it again–” Mark smiles shyly and sticks out a hand–“Friends?”

Yangyang avoids Mark’s hand to hug him tight, “I’m sorry I hit you.”

Mark grins and hugs back, “It’s ok! You’re strong!”

Yangyang chuckles, “You too!”

Ten watches the two boys with a small smile and glances up, he isn’t expecting to see Taeyong staring at him intently. “Hey,” the alpha says.

Now usually Ten would turn right around and march off with his pup in tow, but this is Johnny and Taeil’s friend, even if he is a lone alpha, he can’t be _too_ rude.

“H… Hey.”

“I’m sorry about this whole incident with my pup and yours. Mark is usually well-behaved, though he is kind of shy sometimes,” the alpha rubs his chin contemplatively before shrugging and smiling kindly. “I know we got off on the wrong foot–” Ten raises a brow unimpressed, he already knows where this conversation is headed–“but I’d like to start again, i… if you’d like to… as well.”

Ten crosses his arms, “And why would I do that?”

The alpha looks confused then. Ten sniggers in his head. This is a common reaction after all… Stupid alphas… They think they can say anything and the omega will just play along, well not this one.

“W-We could be friends… if you want. O-Or even just friendly acquaintances! We’re both good friends with Johnny and Taeilie, and we’re single parents, we have that in common…” The alpha quiets down when Ten continues to look increasingly uninterested. “W-We don’t have to,” he adds, “I just thought it would be nice… It’s tough taking care of a pup on your own, you know.” The alpha chuckles awkwardly, glancing towards where Mark and Yangyang are comparing biceps. “But I’d give the world for him.”

Ten follows his gaze, Yangyang is smiling brightly, as if nothing wrong ever happened. It warms his heart. “What happened to his mother?” He murmurs.

The alpha pulls a face then, like he just ate the world’s sourest candy. “He… didn’t want Mark, but I convinced him to let me have him… I don’t know where he is now though.” He smiles and shrugs, but Ten can tell it’s desultory. “Can I ask what happened to his father?”

“He’s gone,” he sighs.

“Gone?”

Ten nods, “Permanently.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Taeil comes up to them then. “Ten, we’ve gotta go. It’s getting late.”

“Oh. Right. Yangyang, let’s go-”

“-Yes, momma!-”

“-It was nice talking with you, Taeyong.”

The alpha, Taeyong, blushes pink and nods, “The pleasure was all mine…”

“Ten. You can call me Ten.”

“Ten,” Taeyong breathes softly.

Taeil pats his shoulder, “Bye, Yong. Stay safe.”

“I will,” Taeyong says, starry-eyed gaze still fixated on Ten, who quirks a brow and picks Yangyang up in his arms, following after Taeil. Yangyang nuzzles into his neck sleepily and lays his head on his shoulder. “Tired, baby?”

“Mhm.”

Ten smiles slightly and watches as Johnny gets his half-asleep kids into their car seats before saying goodbye to Taeyong, who leaves in his own vehicle. The drive back home is quiet, save for the radio, playing a soft tune. And when they arrive at the apartment complex, Johnny helps Ten carry Yangyang up the stairs, all the way into the apartment, and into the beta’s small bed.

The tall alpha closes the door softly before turning on Ten, “Now are you going to tell me what happened to you?”

Ten sighs, “John, I’m really tired. I wanna shower and get into bed, please.”

“No, Ten. This is serious,” Johnny grows teary-eyed, “You’re hurt. Someone hurt you and you’re brushing it off like nothing.”

Ten bites at the inside of his cheek and looks away from Johnny’s earnest, shiny eyes, “Taeil is waiting for you.”

“Ten, don’t be like this. Please! Don’t you understand how much it hurts to see you with that bruise on your face? How much it hurts Taeil to see you this way? I felt his sadness and pain through our bond, Ten. It scared me. So don’t push us away, please…”

“What do you want to hear, Johnny? Obviously, I’m not ok. None of this is ok, but I don’t get to choose if I’m ok or not. And you want to know why, John? You want to know what happened? An alpha hit me. An alpha that I invited into my bed for money.”

Johnny stares down at him, shocked into silence.

“So there you have it, your best friend is a whore… I really appreciate all you do for me, but right now, I just need you to go, please… You don’t have to worry about watching Yangyang tomorrow, I’ll take care of it,” he walks over to the door and opens it.

Johnny walks past him, leaving as silently as he came. Ten closes the door behind him, sight going blurry with tears. But there’s no point in crying now, the truth is out. If the couple chooses to cut him out of their lives, then so be it. He isn’t deserving of their attention anyway.

~~~

“Momma, why didn’t you take me with Johnny and Mr. Taeil?”

“Because they’re busy, baby. And besides, don’t you want to spend more time with me?”

“I promised Ducky to play his new game with him,” Yangyang mumbles, feet swinging from his seat in the waiting area of the laundromat.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll understand, baby.”

“You shouldn’t break promises.”

Ten crouches in front of his son, “I know, baby. I’m sorry.”

Yangyang pouts, fiddling with the jaw of his dinosaur, not meeting his mother’s eyes.

“Hyuck loves you, so I know he’ll understand.”

Yangyang makes a small noise of acknowledgement and Ten sighs, sitting beside him. He feels bad making his pup endure the boredom of the laundromat and lying to him at the same time, but, like everything else in his life, what choice does he have? Maybe he would be better off letting some random alpha mate him and convince them to let his son live… or maybe giving Yangyang to a well-off family would be better. No more shitty food and living conditions. He’d be a normal pup with a good upbringing.

“Momma.”

“Hm?”

“Mr. Taeil is here.”

“What?” He sits up and turns towards where Yangyang is pointing. Taeil is fast-approaching, marching through the running machines and up to them. Ten stands but before he can get a word in, Taeil is wrapping him up in his arms and holding him tight. Yangyang watches the two embracing omegas confused before deciding he wants in and hugs onto their legs.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ten, I don’t think you understood me. When I say that you’re family, I mean it. You’re like a little brother to me, understand? And I don’t ever want to hear you talk bad about yourself, ok? I’m not gonna lie and say I approve of what you do for extra money, but don’t think you have to do that. Don’t think you’re on your own. Johnny and I are here to help you, always and in anything you need. We know it’s not easy. But we love you and we’re going to take care of you and Yangyang.” Taeil steps back to wipe the tears from Ten’s face, careful not to remove the makeup covering his bruise, and smiles encouragingly, squeezing Ten’s shoulders. “Ok?”

“Ok…”

They both move to sit, Taeil picking up Yangyang and setting him on his lap. Yangyang smiles and nuzzles into Taeil’s chest.

“Is Johnny-”

“He’s fine. He stayed at home, watching the kids. But he was really worried about you, he just didn’t know what to say.”

“So he sent you?” Ten chuckles slightly.

“Yep–” Taeil smiles, bouncing Yangyang on his lap–“You know you could always just bring your stuff over to our place. It’s a lot cheaper than here.”

“So you’re a daycare and a laundromat now?”

“Only for you.”

Ten smiles, watching Yangyang start to doze off in the older omega’s arms. “I wish I could get him to sleep that easily. It usually takes a movie.”

“It’s all in your scent. If you relax, they relax. Same goes for your mate. If you calm down, they calm down.”

Ten chuckles, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They sit in silence a moment, watching Yangyang’s slumped little figure.

“So Taeyong.”

“Hm? What about him?”

“For someone who doesn’t like alphas, you sure were being nice to him.”

Ten rolls his eyes, “Only cause he’s your friend.”

“I think you’d like him, Ten. I mean, Johnny would never say it, but he was really hoping you two would connect.”

“I don’t need anyone but my baby.”

“I know you don’t. I’m just saying if you’re ever looking for a mate or even just a friend, I think he’d be a good candidate.”

Ten hums and Taeil studies his neutral expression for a second before glancing towards the machines, “So how much longer? These seats are uncomfortable.”

Ten chuckles, “Any minute now.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has a different vibe from the first but I hope y'all like it anyway.
> 
> Hope you're all doing well and staying safe and healthy :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small warning for sexual abuse

Heats are the absolute worst. They come and they go despite the fact that he’s gotten himself fixed. Four to five days of torture, of long-buried instincts rising from the core to pester him into settling down, into getting stuffed, into bearing more pups.

He hates it. Loathes it with every cell in his being.

But on the upside, those few days are when he rakes in the most money. Who wouldn’t pay to fuck an omega in heat? And, man, does the money come in. 

He won’t deny that he’s attractive. He knows he is, possibly even cursed with his beauty. Alphas and betas bid for him, for an opportunity to spend a night or an hour, minutes to be in his presence. And he only chooses the ones with the deepest pockets.

“Momma.”

Yangyang watches from the doorway as he searches through the bathroom counter for what he’ll need, which includes bondguard and reenergizing tablets, and also the shitty convenience store suppressants. Those tiny pink pills are his friends.

“Yes, baby?”

“After your heat, can we go watch the new Spiderman movie?”

“For sure, baby.”

Yangyang smiles, picking at the peeling paint distractedly, revealing old wood beneath. Ten finds what he’s looking for and picks up the little containers and cartons, setting them in the sink. He frowns at his reflection, the bruise had long gone away, but that’s not what bothers him. Usually, he doesn’t bother with makeup, but the alphas he’ll be inviting expect it as a courtesy. Kohl to make his already feline eyes look even more feminine.

Bullshit.

“You look weird, momma.”

“I do, right? I don’t like it either.”

Yangyang steps closer and Ten picks him up with ease, setting him down on the small sink counter. Taeil and Johnny will be passing by any minute now to take Yangyang with them while he’s working. This would be the second time they’re taking care of him. The heats before that he’d spend locked up at home with his pup. His baby wasn’t affected in the slightest, if anything, having his son around made it easier, made the instincts urging him to mate pester him less.

Yangyang watches him through the mirror. He can practically see the waves of sadness coming off his pup and he smiles, “You want some makeup too?”

Yangyang shakes his head no. “I don’t look like you, momma.”

“What are you talking about? You’re being ridiculous—” Ten grabs his pup’s cheeks, squishing them in one hand and pressing their cheeks together till they’re looking side by side in the mirror—“Look at you. I’m handsome. You’re handsome. We are exactly the same, baby. Don’t you see it?”

Yangyang giggles, pressed up against his mother. “You’re beautiful, momma.”

“I know.” He smirks as his baby bursts into another fit of giggles.

“But I don’t look like you, momma… I wish I looked like you.”

“Baby, if you looked more like me, then you wouldn’t be you… You wouldn’t be my little perfect baby Yangyang.”

“Who would I be?” The pup asks, staring into the mirror petrified. “I wanna be your baby.”

“You _are_ my baby. That’s why you look the way you do.”

“That doesn’t make sense, momma.”

“Listen—” Ten turns Yangyang around so he can cup his little face in his hands—“The reason you don’t look like me is because you look more like your daddy. But you’re like way more handsome than him, like a thousand times more handsome.”

Yangyang blushes pink and smiles slightly, shaking his head to press his face to Ten’s chest. He feels Yangyang ball his fists in his shirt and pets a hand over the back of his head. He’d cut his pup’s hair recently, but it’s grown out again. At least Yangyang won’t have to worry about balding when he’s older. 

He wonders what kind of person he’ll grow up to be and smiles fondly, scratching his pup’s scalp slowly. Yangyang starts slumping against him. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me now, baby. It’s not bedtime.”

“I love you, momma.”

“I love you too. Hey—” Yangyang glances up, his little chin digging into his stomach—“How about after this heat we start looking for a new home?”

“A new home?”

“Mhm. Somewhere where we don’t have to wake up super early for the bus.”

Yangyang smiles wide. “Really, momma?”

“Yeah, baby.”

“Can it be somewhere close to the mall? Or! Or! Or somewhere close to Mr. Taeil and Johnny?”

“Wherever we want,” Ten winks, swiping his thumb over Yangyang’s nose. Yangyang grins wide and nuzzles his face into Ten’s stomach. “How about it? Sound good?”

Yangyang nods, his face still pressed against his stomach. Ten smiles and hugs his pup tight. They’re finally gonna get out of here.

A knock at the front door draws their attention and Yangyang grins wide, hopping off the sink counter. He tumbles but bounces back right away. “Ducky’s here!”

Ten smiles, watching him run out of the bathroom and heads towards Yangyang’s room to grab his suitcase. He reaches for the red bag and stops altogether when he feels in his core that something is _wrong, very wrong._

He steps out of the room and into the hall and what he sees damn near stops his heart. His baby is in the arms of a stranger, but the acrid scent that fills the living room… He nearly gags. Yangyang’s teary eyes dart to him, his whines are muffled by the alpha’s huge hand, covering up nearly all of his face.

The alpha smirks, swaying where he stands. “I heard I could get some a… action here. That true?”

Ten is frozen. Everything is yelling at him to keep his pup safe. The door is closed. He has no weapons, save for some mace but that’s tucked away in his room. He could take his chances and try to fight the alpha off, but that will more than likely end with him and his son losing their lives. If his friends get here, they could put a stop to this… But Johnny would be injured in the process and if Taeil were to come to the door… He knows even two omegas are no match for a lone alpha… Everyone would get hurt.

He has no choice.

“Well, it’d better be true for your pup’s s… sake. Isn’t that right, brat?” He asks, jostling Yangyang in his arm. Yangyang shakes his head, trying to get out of the alpha’s hold. “Feisty,” the alpha chuckles.

“Let my son go, please.” And how he hates pleading, but that’s his son, that’s his baby’s life in danger.

The man smirks, sliding his hand to cover up Yangyang’s face entirely, “Get to it, bitch. You don’t want to find out what I’ll do to junior here if you don’t.”

Ten bites his tongue and slowly steps forward, sinking to his knees in front of the alpha. He can’t help wrinkling his nose at the stench of alcohol, of filth. Yangyang whines and whimpers above as he undoes the zipper of the man’s slacks.

The alpha makes a disgruntled sound and lets go of Yangyang, letting him drop to the floor. Yangyang tumbles to the floor, landing on his side with a yelp. Ten reaches out for his pup instinctively but is stopped by a hand gripping his hair. A cut off whimper leaves his throat and Yangyang turns on the alpha immediately, growling and glaring up at him.

_Shit._

Ten holds out an arm before Yangyang can anger the alpha further, “Baby. Baby, look at me, please.”

His pup slowly turns to face him, his little fists balled at his sides and his features screwed up in a scowl even as tears run down his cheeks.

“Go to your room, baby, ok? Momma’s gonna be ok, just go.”

“ _Momma_ -”

“Listen to your mother, _brat_.”

Yangyang glares up at the man and then back at Ten.

“Just go, baby. It’s ok,” he tries his best to smile. _Please go._ Yangyang slowly steps away and then turns tail, running to his room.

“Obedient brat,” the alpha rumbles and then pulls him to his feet, one hand twisted in his hair and the other gripping his arm hard enough to bruise. “I don’t have all day,” the alpha mutters, pulling him into the kitchen, where he roughly bends him over the island counter.

He sinks his nails into his palms as his shorts are yanked down and grits his teeth, breathing harshly through his nose to keep from thinking about the body pinning him down, the slight constant pain zapping his tail bone, the alpha’s horrid warm breath panting and wheezing away at the back of his neck.

3 minutes seem like centuries and the alpha stumbles away when the deed is done, tossing crumpled bills at his back. The front door creaks and promptly closes.

Ten can barely hold himself up and makes it to the restroom before his legs give out. He has to clean up. He has to check on Yangyang. He has to see if Johnny and Taeil are here. He has to…

Hiccups rise from his chest, shudders run along up and down his spine, his limbs are as steady as tree branches in a hurricane, his fingers are no better. The cold sensation on his bare ass grows as liquid seeps out of him and onto the linoleum floor, contrasting with the heat building in his core.

Everything crashes down.

He tries muffling his cries and screams into the crook of his arm, but they echo in the small bathroom. Little feet patter towards him, soft thuds on the carpet.

“Momma.”

His son shouldn’t be seeing him like this.

“M-Momma?” Yangyang steps forward, sniffling, nose red. His little eyes are so sad. And the tears.

He hates seeing his pup unhappy.

“I… I’m so sorry, baby. Come here, baby, don’t cry, baby.”

Yangyang’s face contorts and fresh tears spill over his cheeks as he draws close enough for his mother to hug him. He wails softly into his neck, pressing his little nose to his scent gland.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Ten purrs, cradling his pup in his arms and rocking back and forth even though it hurts. For, as brave as Yangyang may be, he’s only just a five-year-old.

They cry in the restroom for a while until they’re reduced to sniffles. Ten checks his pup over for bruises, sighs relieved when his baby’s perfect skin is unmarred. Yangyang sniffles, leaning his cheek against his shoulder. His little eyelashes stick to his skin all wet and drying together.

It reminds him of when Yangyang’s father died. Of receiving the call not from the hospital but from the alpha’s mother. His mother-in-law berated him, accused him of killing her son, of seducing him, and ruining his life and his “bright” future. 

It didn’t look so bright through an empty beer bottle.

Ten had cried that night, cried nearly all night and through the morning, locked up in the bathroom of that small apartment with his 1-year-old baby in his arms. But it was the night he decided that alphas couldn’t be trusted, that alphas aren’t capable of love, of responsibility…

He wipes a thumb over Yangyang’s eyes. His pup looks so much like his father, but he wouldn’t change him for the world. He’d rather change the sun or the moon than ever change his baby. Yangyang blinks up at him slowly. His baby has the most beautiful brown eyes and his fat little cheeks. He’s perfect, in every sense of the word.

Hell be damned. He’s gonna do right by his son even if it kills him.

“Momma, why are you staring at me?” Yangyang smiles slightly, voice distorted with his stuffy nose.

“Cause you’re so handsome,” he whispers and reaches for toilet paper, folding it neatly in one hand before pressing it to his pup’s tiny nose. “Blow.” 

Yangyang snorts into the tissue as hard as he can, his smile growing when his nose is squished a few times beneath his mother’s delicate fingers. Ten tosses the tissue away and leans down, nuzzling their noses together. Yangyang smiles and giggles softly, nuzzling right back.

“Are you ok, momma?” Yangyang asks then, running his tiny hand over his mother’s cheek, the one purple and yellow stained for nearly three weeks.

Ten nods, turning his face to kiss the tiny palm. “I’m super tough, boy. No alpha is a match for your momma, understand? I send them all running.”

Yangyang grins, “Even big alphas with huge muscles?”

“Even those brutes. Baby, omegas run this world, understand? Alphas are at _our_ complete mercy. Not the other way around.”

“What about betas… like me?”

“You’re perfectly in the middle. Neutral.”

“Neutral?”

“Neutral. It means you’re in the middle, safe for everyone.”

Yangyang hums and focuses his attention on the tiny moles on his mother’s throat and chin. He traces his finger over them, connecting them. There’s another one beneath his shirt on his chest, between his teats, nearing the left one. He also has more along his right arm and one hidden away on his left ear and another just above his right eye, only ever visible when he closes his eyes. Yangyang doesn’t have as many moles to sport.

“Ducky and them are taking a while, huh?”

Yangyang sits up in his lap. “Momma, I wanna stay here with you, please.”

“No, baby. You promised Ducky you’d sleepover.”

Yangyang pouts, his lip starts to wobble. “But, momma-”

“Baby, everything is going to be fine, ok? You’re gonna have a fun time with Johnny and Taeil and Yukhei and Ducky. I need you to go so I can get money, ok? So we can move away from here. Ok, baby? I promise I’ll be ok and I’ll be extra careful and I won’t let anyone hurt you ever.”

“You promise?”

“I promise, baby.” Ten smiles, kissing his baby’s forehead and scenting him over and over until their scents nearly become one. Yangyang’s dried herbs and Ten’s petrichor become an old wooden farmhouse drenched in soft rain. “I love you so much, baby, more than anything in the world.”

“I love you too, momma,” Yangyang whispers, nuzzling his face into his mother’s chest.

Ten quirks a brow, “Why’d you whisper?”

“Because I want the whole world to hear,” he whispers again.

“What?”

“You’re my whole world, momma,” Yangyang smiles, eyes creasing into his cheeks adorably in delight.

Ten stares down at his pup agape before grinning wide, his cheeks growing pink and hurting from how hard he’s smiling. “Yangyang! You slick little thing! Where did you get _that_ from? You’re making your momma blush, boy.”

Yangyang smiles wide, satisfied, and leans up to kiss his chin. Ten smiles and wonders what he did to be gifted with a pup like Yangyang, with his perfect little baby. He’s so perfect.

A knock at the door interrupts them once again. The pair exchange a wide-eyed glance and Yangyang wraps his arms around his mother’s neck. Ten hugs Yangyang close, shielding his pup in his arms.

Another knock resounds.

“Yo, Ten! We’re here!”

“Yangie!”

Ten and Yangyang simultaneously sigh. Ten presses a can of disinfectant aerosol into his pup’s hands. “Listen, baby, let’s keep what happened a secret, ok? Just between you and me.”

“But, momma, that alpha was gonna hurt us,” Yangyang mumbles, turning the can in his hands.

“Ten!” Johnny knocks again.

“I know, but it’s our secret. You can’t tell no one, baby.”

“Ok…” 

“Good—” he kisses his cheek and sets him on his feet—“I need you to spray the kitchen and living room really quick and really good. Go. Hurry.” Yangyang patters off with the can in his grasp. He sighs to himself and stands slowly, ignoring the dull pain radiating from his ass as he cleans himself and the floor. Catching his reflection in the bathroom, he smirks. The makeup really is water-resistant. 

In the living room, the stink of alpha is gone under the flowery smell of the aerosol. “Thank you, baby.” Yangyang nods, setting the can on the island counter along with the crumpled bills that he found on the floor. Ten grimaces, “Go wash your hands, baby, really good.”

“Ok.”

He watches as Yangyang runs off to the bathroom and then finally opens the front door. Johnny stands there with Donghyuck in his arms. They both smile upon seeing him, his best friend safely makes no mention of the colors on his face, even Johnny knows he doesn’t like bothering with makeup. Johnny passes Donghyuck to Ten. “Here, keep this goblin little bear.”

Donghyuck grins and laughs aloud, giggles dribbling from him like water from an endless fountain. Ten smiles and hugs the omega pup close, nuzzling his cheek against Hyuck’s.

“You’re a goblin bear, Hyuckie?”

“No! Daddy’s mean!” Donghyuck giggles, nuzzling back. “You smell like Yangie.”

“No crap, Sherlock.”

Yangyang comes running, barreling straight into Johnny’s legs. “Johnny!”

“Hey, little sheep, what’s up? Ready for an awesome weekend of non-stop fun?!”

“Yes!”

“Yangie!”

Ten sets Donghyuck down and watches as the pup latches himself onto Yangyang, hugging him tightly till they’re a small bundle of puppy scents and arms and legs. Johnny places his hands on his hips, watching them before turning his gaze to Ten.

“His suitcase is in his room.”

“Got it,” Johnny lurches in, stepping around the pups.

Ten crouches before Donghyuck and Yangyang, joining their kiddy conversation discreetly, tying his pup’s shoes, the tiny yellow sneakers he loves wearing.

“My mama says we can camp in the living room. And Xuxi says he’ll bring his legos.”

“Even the tiny ones?” Yangyang gapes.

Donghyuck smiles and nods. “But only if we promise to take care of them.”

Yangyang grins and glances at his mother. “Momma, did you hear?”

“Yeah, baby, sounds like you’re gonna have a blast.”

Donghyuck wraps his arms around Yangyang, pulling him into a hug. “Don’t worry, Ten, I’ll take good care of Yangie!”

Yangyang blushes and grins giddily. Ten smiles, “Thank you, Hyuckie.” 

It makes him happy to see his pup smiling and he knows Yangyang is always safe with Johnny and Taeil, it’s a good thing he gets along well with their kids too. 

Both of the Moon Suh pups don’t look exactly like either of their parents, but Donghyuck and Yukhei definitely share more features with their mother. And Johnny’s family on his alpha parent’s side have a darker complexion, both his children seem to have inherited that. It’s crazy how unique some pups can be. He knows for a fact one of Kun’s kids is the spitting image of him while the other two take more after their father.

Johnny comes strolling from Yangyang’s room with the red suitcase carried easily in one hand. “I’ve got your cargo, little sheep. Ready to take off?”

“Wait a minute!” Yangyang launches himself at Ten, making them both tumble to the ground. Ten grins wide and hugs his pup, laughing aloud when Yangyang noses and sniffles at his neck. “I love you, momma, so much.”

“I love you too, Yangyang baby. I love you more than anything.” Ten purrs and presses kisses to his baby’s forehead and the top of his head.

“I’m gonna miss you, momma.”

“We’ll be together again before you know it. You be good for Johnny and Taeil, ok?”

“Yes, momma.” Yangyang steps away, pulling on Ten’s arm to help him to his feet. He grins when Ten skims his fingers against his cheek in thanks and turns to Johnny. “Ok, I’m ready.”

Johnny smiles and gestures at the door, “Let’s go then.” He hugs his best friend, nuzzling their cheeks together. “You sure you’ll be ok on your own?”

Ten nods, hugging Johnny back, “I’m sure. Take care of my baby, John.”

“I will.”

“Thank you. I’ll be around to pick him up when it’s over.”

“Ok. Bye, Ten.” Johnny steps out, Donghyuck and Yangyang following beside him.

“Bye, Johnny.”

Yangyang waves and blows his mother a kiss as they walk away. Ten smiles and catches it, waving goodbye to his baby. They disappear off down the stairs and Ten closes the door, leaning with his back against it.

He listens to the quiet of the apartment for a moment, feels pangs in his chest, already missing his pup. He breathes in and exhales slowly, releasing the tension building and pushes himself off the door. 

“Time to get to work.”

~~~

The shitty suppressants from the gasoline station just down the street are his friends. He pops two of the little pink pills into his mouth and swallows them down with water from the sink. 

It’s been three… or four days since he’s seen his baby. And he’s had little time to himself. Every hour he’s got an alpha in bed, sometimes even three different alphas within the span of an hour. 

He’s gone through two tubes of re-energizing tablets and one bottle of bondguard serum. The mace, just within reach tucked between the mattress and the headboard, has gone unused. Lucky for him the alphas have been less possessive. They come and pop their knot and then leave. The money is stacking up in that grate behind his door but he’s still dollars short.

And now he has a problem, his next appointment is late and he gets the itching suspicion they may be cancelling on him completely. The old alpha is supposed to be his last client… Maybe he got caught by his mate. He paces his bedroom, waiting for a text or a knock at the door. But 30 minutes pass and nothing.

He growls and stamps his foot. 

Stupid, unreliable, pieces of- 

“Knotheads,” he grumbles and dresses into skimpy shorts and a shirt. He’ll find an alpha and take all his money. His body still has the effects of heat so he won’t have to beg too much. He steps out of his apartment and marches towards the gasoline station, he’ll probably find someone there.

The few people he passes up on the way send him dirty looks but who cares. He certainly doesn’t. He’s gotta make money somehow. The sun is starting to set so maybe he’s been locked up in his apartment for four days. The gasoline station is seemingly deserted when he gets there. That’s fine. People will show up soon, coming home from work.

Long minutes pass. He wrinkles his nose at the alphas that whistle as they walk past. Damn hobos. They don’t have the money he needs. A breeze blows through making him shiver on the spot… it’s getting closer and closer to winter.

Then the alphas start rolling in, he smirks to himself and struts from where he was standing near the corner over to the small store. He can feel the stares of a few of them on him, following his enticing form. Alphas are so predictable, he cackles internally.

He pretends to look over the candies in one of the aisles and puts on an innocent smile when an alpha approaches him. He can tell from his scent alone that he’s carrying the money he needs. The alpha smirks, leaning against the candy stand. “Hey, baby doll. You here alone?”

Ten’s skin crawls but he smiles easy and looks up at the alpha through his lashes, nodding meekly. “I’m all alone tonight, alpha~”

The alpha eats it up and his scent becomes headier. Ten internally rolls his eyes. This pipsqueak probably won’t even last a minute. “Spend the night with me, baby doll. Get what you want,” he gestures at the candies. As if Ten wants the fucking candy. He grabs a bag of lollipops and thinks of shoving them up the stupid alpha’s ass as they stop by the register.

And that’s right about when shit hits the fan. Stepping out into the chilly night, he doubles over, a horrible warmth radiating from his core. He feels slick begin to leak and he tries to hold it in as the alpha chuckles, holding him up, nasty fingers engulfing his wrist, “Don’t worry, baby doll, I’ll take good care of you.”

His little pink friends are wearing off. 

He’s gonna be in serious danger if he doesn’t get back to his apartment. The suppressants only work to help him stay above the heat haze and he isn’t wearing any bondguard. He’ll be completely at the mercy of this young, reckless alpha.

He whines and whimpers, trying to get out of the alpha’s hold. 

“You can’t change your mind now, baby doll. You’re giving me something whether you like it or not,” the alpha growls in his ear, trying to lead him to his car.

“No, no,” he whines and tries to peel the alpha’s hand off of his wrist.

“Hey, let him go.”

A third voice says. He’s too busy trying to get away to see who it is.

“Fuck off, find your own bitch.”

This is great. They’ll fight and he’ll make his escape.

“Don’t argue with me, pup. Let him go.”

Ten whimpers, pressing his thighs together as slick soaks through his underwear. The last effects of his suppressants wear off as the strong scent of alpha floods his senses. He yanks his wrist out of the young alpha’s hold and gravitates towards the stronger scent, an older alpha. He feels an arm around his waist and he’s being led away. The pavement seems so much closer, it sparkles in his blurry sight. He’s sitting in a car before he realizes it.

“Where do you live?” A deep, steady voice asks.

He can barely keep his eyes open, running on his instincts. “Down the street. Number 127.”

And that’s all he gets to say before he completely shuts down, his omega takes over.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


.

..

…

Ten wakes with a gasp. His last memory is being dragged along by that alpha pup. The memory was waiting for him right when he woke, haunting him, berating him almost. His heart thuds heavily in his chest but he’s in his room, under the covers and still in the clothes of the night before. He sits up slowly, dawn glows through his window.

How did he get back home?

No scent of alpha plagues him or his room, nothing except his own scent of slick and heat stuck to his skin. But there’s the faint smell of… flowers?

Aerosol. Maybe he did bring an alpha home. He raises a hand slowly, fingers trembling as he feels on his neck. He sighs audibly, relief washing over him like a wave when his fingertips meet no bumps or indents.

“What the hell…”

The smell of flowers is still in the air though, however faint it may be. He grabs for the small pepper spray tucked between the mattress and the headboard. The little black spray fits in the palm of his hand and he holds it up as he slowly makes his way through the rest of the apartment. The restroom is empty. So is Yangyang’s room and there’s no signs anyone’s been in either. The scent of flowers grows stronger as he nears the living room and kitchen. And… he sniffles the air, is that coffee he smells? They don’t even have coffee!

He slowly inches forward, peeking around the corner into the kitchen.

No one.

He turns towards the living room and all the alarms shoot off in his head. A man is sitting on the floor with his back against the wall (Ten sold the couch for extra money back when Yangyang was smaller, when his teats suddenly decided to stop producing milk for his pup). His arms are crossed over his suit-laden chest and his chin rests against his chest. He’s asleep and he’s the source of the weird flower smell.

Ten creeps forward slowly, quietly and then he makes out the man’s features in the low light. He knows this person and all he sees is red when it really sinks in. 

Not some knothead? Not some knothead?! _Not some knothead!?_

“Wake the hell up!!” He growls and aims the little pepper spray at the alpha’s face, who startles awake, wide eyes going round before focusing on Ten and the black device held in his hands.

“No, wait, Ten, I can explain!” He holds up his hands.

“I don’t give a fuck about your explanations, you dirty, lying asshole. Just wait till Johnny and Taeil hear about this. Preying on omegas. You _disgust_ me!!”

“No, Ten, I didn’t-”

“Keep my name out of your mouth, _liar_. What will Mark think, having you as a horrible example of a father?”

That shuts him up. Ten would smirk if he weren’t so angry. “Get the fuck out of here before I get you arrested or worse.”

Taeyong slowly stands all while keeping his hands held up. “I didn’t touch you.”

“Yeah, sure you didn’t.” Ten steps away, gesturing towards the door. “You, out of the _kindness_ of your heart, brought me home and tucked me into bed, huh? Me, an omega _in heat_ , you, a knothead, just put me to bed without raping me. Right, cause I believe that.” The anger boiling in his veins only grows more irritated the longer Taeyong stands there, staring at him with his wide eyes, faux innocence.

“I didn’t touch you,” he says again, more softly and makes for the door, leaving without another word.

Ten locks the door, slumping against it with a sigh. He needs his baby. He growls as he disinfectants the entirety of the apartment. He nearly pops a vein, opening the fridge to see it fully-stocked, so are the cupboards… 

“What the fuck?”

He has half the mind to throw it all away, but there’s a box of cake mix and it’s Yangyang’s favorite flavor and he wants to explode from the rage building in him. What is that alpha after? Whatever it is, he’s telling Johnny right away. He showers and changes before marching all the way to Johnny’s house, he can’t be bothered with the bus right now.

He raps his knuckles against the door and waits with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot impatiently. It’s still early, the sun just peeking over the buildings says so, but he knows at least Taeil is awake. He bangs his fist against the door again.

Orange leaves skitter by on the sidewalk and few other people are walking the streets. He reminds himself to borrow the phone to call Kun and let him know his heat has broken. He’s about to knock on the door again when it swings open, Johnny’s sleepy face blinks down at him.

“I need to talk to you,” Ten says and makes his way under Johnny’s arms. “Where is my son?”

Johnny blinks wearily at him and closes the door. “He’s asleep. Ten, are you ok? You’re looking kind of pale.”

“I’m fine,” Ten runs his hands through his hair, out of irritation? worry? It’s a bunch of emotions jumbled horribly into one. And his hair is getting too long. “I’m fine…” He marches into the living room, glancing around like he’s looking for something.

Johnny follows behind his best friend at a slower pace, shuffling his Totoro slippers against the hardwood floor, watching Ten flit around like a restless bird.

“Who was it, baby?” Taeil’s calls softly as he descends the steps. Johnny glances over his shoulder at his husband and gestures silently at Ten, still pacing around the living room, hand on his chin, the other arm tucked around his middle. Taeil quirks a brow, eyes filling with concern, he adjusts his little pajama bottoms as his feet meet the floor. Johnny watches as Taeil approaches Ten slowly, resting a hand on his shoulder, bringing him out of his reverie.

“Ten.”

The younger omega blinks owlishly before seemingly suddenly remembering where he is. His features contort in annoyance. Taeil presses the back of his hand to his forehead, feeling for fever and remnants of his heat, and then moves his hand to rub a slow circle into Ten’s back, between his shoulder blades.

“Have you eaten?”

“No, I—” Ten shakes his head, but relaxes some under Taeil’s ministrations—“I need to talk to you and Johnny. It’s important.”

“Ok, ok, we can talk over some breakfast.” Taeil gestures at his mate, standing half-asleep in the doorway. Johnny blinks and stands up straighter as he goes into the kitchen. Ten lets himself be led into the kitchen and lets Taeil seat him on a stool. His eyes follow the couple’s movements, they move around each other in the small space of the kitchen with a practiced ease, like they’ve done it a thousand times over.

Taeil scoops out coffee grinds into the white coffee machine as Johnny reaches over him to grab three mugs from the cupboards. The tall alpha sets them down on the counter and then moves to the fridge, drawing out eggs and a packet of bacon. Taeil sets a skillet on the stove and a spatula beside it before switching places with his husband. Johnny turns a dial and the stove clicks before fire bursts under the skillet. Taeil draws out bread and a jar of jam from the fridge.

All the while, Ten never takes his eyes off of them, resting his chin in his hand. He wonders what it’s like, sharing your life with someone until you both move complementary to the other. He wouldn’t know anything about that. He’s always been alone after all.

Cooking grease and toasted bread, the combined smell reminds him that he hasn’t had any real food in nearly a week. His stomach rumbles and growls but the sound is, luckily, lost under the sizzle and pop of the bacon cooking. He wonders what they’ll say when he reveals the truth about their oh-so-trusted friend, that one infuriating Taeyong Lee.

Mugs of coffee are set out along with three plates full of bacon, eggs, and buttered toast on the side. An extra bowl is set beside Ten’s plate, filled with what looks like oatmeal or a close cousin of it. And then Johnny and Taeil sit on either side of him, they don’t say much as they start eating. 

Johnny squeezes his shoulder and gestures at the extra bowl, “Make sure to eat that. I think you’ll like it.”

“What is it?” Ten asks around a mouthful of bacon.

“Grits.”

“Grits?”

“Yeah, and you’d better like it cause your son is in love with it,” Johnny chuckles. “We had grits almost every morning.”

Ten hums and takes a spoonful of the white grainy slop. It’s essentially tasteless. Odd. But it isn’t bad, he can see why his pup likes it. He sips his coffee and it kicks in right away. “Ok, now we really need to get down to business.”

Johnny and Taeil exchange a small brief glance, Ten can’t tell what it means but they set their utensils down to listen to him.

“Last night, I went to the gasoline station cause one of my clients refused to show up—” he crosses his arms over his chest—“anyway, my suppressants wore off while I was there so I can’t remember very much, but I do remember some pup knothead trying to take me along to his place or wherever. And that’s as far as my memory goes, but I woke up this morning in _my_ apartment. And guess who was there?”

Johnny’s eyebrows are quirked up with concern but Taeil simply shrugs, though Ten can still see a troubled gleam in his eyes.

“ _Your_ friend! That alpha that you said wasn’t just some knothead. He was there in my apartment and I can’t remember how I got home or what happened. He probably…” Ten growls, hands curling into fists. “And he- he has the nerve to fucking… You know I don’t buy a lot of groceries cause they’ll go bad since we’re never really home, but, no, he has the nerve to fill the fridge and the cupboards with a bunch of junk. If I see him again, I’m gonna kill him.”

He’s expecting them to go into a rage too and defend him so he really isn’t expecting Johnny to stand down or the—is that stern?—level expression on Taeil’s face. “Ten,” he starts slowly, “I know this looks bad to you. I mean, what alpha would ever be able to resist the pheromones of an omega in heat? But I honestly and completely believe Taeyong didn’t do anything to you, except help you home.”

Oh, that hurts. “You think I’m lying?!”

“Ten, lower your voice, you’re gonna wake the kids—” Taeil clears his throat and adjusts the hem of his baggy shirt—“And I don’t think you’re lying. I’m sure Taeyong was in your home and bought all that stuff for you, but I’m also sure he didn’t do anything sexually inappropriate to you.”

“How would you know? You weren’t there…”

“Because he was my friend long before I knew you or Johnny. Our families were close so they’d always hope we’d end up mating, but we saw each other more like brothers. I started getting heats early on and Taeyong was always there for me, fed me and helped me with anything I needed. And not once over those hundreds of heats did he ever violate me.”

Oh shit.

Ten can see in his eyes that he’s telling the truth, but he looks away to glare at his empty plate cause, frankly, he’s still angry. “Still! I’m not some charity case!”

Taeil sighs and starts picking up plates. “It’s too early for this,” he mumbles, barely audible.

Johnny glances at his mate and then back at Ten. “Do you think he did something wrong? Cause it sounds to me like he was only trespassing, you know…”

Ten sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “I don’t know… I don’t know.”

“But you’re ok, right?” Johnny’s hand finds his and squeezes.

“Yeah, I’m ok… You two have the weirdest friends.”

“You’re one of them, dumbass,” Taeil says as he starts cooking more breakfast.

Johnny and Ten can’t help laughing.

“So what’d you do?”

“I kicked him out, what else?”

“Of course, you did. Why don’t you help me wake up the kids then since you’re here?” Johnny stands and makes for the stairs. Ten stands, stretching his arms over his head until he notices the look Taeil is sending him, standing there by the stove with the spatula in his hand. He feels bad and makes his way over to his side, hugging onto the older omega’s arm. Taeil sniffles and flips an egg.

“I’m sorry, Ilie.”

“For?”

“Insulting your friend.” But he had it coming, Ten thinks.

“Ten, not every alpha is out to get you, you realize that, right?”

“Most of them are.”

“Yes, but not all of them—” Taeil shrugs him off—“Just calm down, alright? Count your blessings, you know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. I… I’m just glad Taeyong was there. Anything could’ve happened to you, but he’s a good one.”

Ten gets the feeling Taeil wants him to apologize to _that_ alpha, but he isn’t gonna thank him for acting like a _decent_ person. Taeil must be a mind reader though cause he glances at him with that stern expression again.

“Don’t be mean. Not to my friend, alright?”

“Ok, fineeee,” he grumbles and then perks up when he hears a familiar little voice calling for him. “Baby!”

“Momma!”

He makes it around the island to crouch as Yangyang throws himself into his arms. “My baby! My Yangyang!”

“I missed you, momma!” Yangyang grins and nuzzles his face into his mother’s neck. Ten grins and hugs his pup to his chest, standing to twirl in place.

“I missed you so much more, baby.” He sits on the stool with his son in his lap as Taeil serves more eggs and bacon for the kids. Yukhei climbs up on a stool on his own and Donghyuck after seeing how Yangyang is sitting with Ten, demands to be seated in the same manner with Johnny.

Ten helps his little baby as he tries to simultaneously eat and talk about all he did while with the Moon Suh family. He misses his mouth a couple of times and Ten happily picks up after him.

“And then we went to church!”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm! Johnny let me borrow a bowtie and I had my hair like this,” he runs a hand over his hair, pulling it back.

“Really, baby? I bet you looked so handsome.”

Yangyang grins and finishes the last of his breakfast. Ten cleans his mouth and cheeks off with a napkin before turning to Johnny. “Can I leave Yangyang’s bag here for a little while? I need to run some errands really quick.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Do you need a ride?”

“Nope, we’re good.” Ten grins and sets Yangyang down on his feet. They go upstairs so he can change out of his pajamas and then head back down, saying goodbye to the Moon family before stepping out. Ten takes Yangyang’s hand and leads him down the street to the bus stop. Yangyang glances back over his shoulder as they walk along.

“Momma, where we going?”

“I thought you wanted to watch the new Spiderman movie?”

Yangyang goes ballistic, hopping up and down and tugging on his arm. “Yes!!! Can we get the really big popcorn, please?!”

“Whatever you want, baby.”

~~~

“Momma! Look!”

Ten looks away from where he’s folding laundry on the drying machine to see Yangyang with a cardboard box on his head, flames and lighting drawn on the outside along with stick dinosaurs.

“Oh wow! Baby, you’re such an artist! I love the lightning and the colors!”

Yangyang grins wide as Mark pops up beside him in the doorway, wearing his own cardboard box. They giggle when the boxes bump against each other and Yangyang steps away, letting his friend through.

“Do you like mine, Mr. Ten?”

Mark’s is fashioned with lightning bolts, tiger stripes, and random splotches of color that resemble leopard rosettes. It’s more detailed than Yangyang’s but there’s no surprise there seeing as how Mark is older by a year.

“Mhm, it’s very creative! I like the tiger stripes! They’re fierce!”

Mark grins wide, pink tinting his cheeks. Yangyang tugs on his arm and the duo stick out their arms, mimicking airplanes as they run back to the living room. He smiles, listening to them as he continues folding his and Yangyang’s laundry.

He has been left on babysitter duty. He needed to borrow the Moon’s washing and drying machine, and they needed to go visit Johnny’s parents for whatever reason. So now he’s in charge of two hyper pups.

He folds the clothes away into a duffel bag and walks over into the living room, laying down on the couch as Yangyang and Mark hop after each other in slow motion. Based on the noises they’re making, he can safely assume they’re pretending to walk the moon. It’s been a couple of months since the incident at the park and the friendship between the two has grown, if the way Yangyang brings up his friend consistently is any indicator.

Mark is cute. He’s a very cute pup, and very sweet. He’s got manners, which is always a welcome surprise. He can name a couple of his co-workers that end up having to take their kids to work with them. He thanks every deity he can every time those brats yell and throw tantrums despite their mothers’ scolding.

He wonders if Mark looks more like his mother. Occasionally he’ll make a face exactly like his father’s, but that isn’t very often. And speaking of the brute, Ten has safely avoided him since the incident two weeks ago (but he hasn’t been able to _stop thinking about him_ ). He wants to stay mad, but that’s hard to do with Taeil and his stony half-glares, and with the way Yangyang enjoyed every single treat that “magically” appeared in their apartment. His pup’s belly is as round as it should be now… 

It’d be easier to hate _him_ if he weren’t so infuriatingly _kind_.

“Mr. Ten?”

“Yes?” He glances to the side to be met with Mark’s round little eyes. The pup’s holding a blanket in his hands. “Is it nap time already?”

A small shy smile finds its home on Mark’s lips and he nods.

“Alright!” He sits up, clapping his hands once. “Let’s get the cushions on the floor and the blankets.”

Yangyang and Mark hurry to do Ten’s bidding, haphazardly laying out two blankets on the clean enough living room floor and then taking the throw pillows from the couch to use as Ten checks to make sure the front door is locked.

“All done, momma!” Yangyang yells.

“Good job, puppies,” he pats their heads and lets himself collapse onto the blankets, staring up at the ceiling. Yangyang smiles and lays down beside him, cuddling into his side. Mark, however, stands a little off to the side before laying down near the edge of the blankets, but Ten can tell he wants to cuddle too. Poor pup.

“Markie, come, there’s plenty of space here—” he smiles kindly and pats the spot beside him not occupied by Yangyang—“I don’t bite, baby.”

Mark’s cheeks color pink and he crawls closer until he’s in Ten’s general space. Ten isn’t having none of that. He wraps an arm around Mark and very gently draws him until he’s tucked into his side too. “Comfy, baby?” He asks softly, petting his fingers through Mark’s short brown hair. He smells like dough, somehow, a little be sweet, but definitely masculine.

Mark nods and hugs onto him, tucking his face away into his side.

Ten smiles and purrs, hugging the two pups snug. He closes his eyes to focus on those calming vibes Taeil claims to work.

He ends up falling asleep too.

Until he’s rudely awakened by the scent of flowers. _Goddamn flowers._

He opens his eyes and well he isn’t expecting to be met with wide eyes in a handsome face—wait, handsome?! 

_Get ahold of yourself, Ten!_

Taeyong blushes and retreats a few so they aren’t face to face. Ten can’t help wrinkling his nose at him. He thinks he faintly hears Johnny chuckling in the kitchen.

“What do _you_ want?” He curls onto his side, hugging his pup close. Maybe he’s still a little sleepy.

“Um, can I have my child please?”

Ten quirks a brow and glances down to see he has little sleeping Mark wrapped up in his arms and not his Yangyang. He looks over his shoulder for his pup and spots him, wide awake and sitting with Donghyuck in front of the tv. He sighs, so as to not grumble, and sits up, cradling Mark. Geezuz, this kid is heavy. 

“Markie, wakey-wakey, your father’s here.”

The alpha pup mumbles something under his breath and turns away, tucking his face once again into Ten’s chest. Ten nearly coos, but _the father_ is still very much nearby. He jostles the pup some and blows air onto his ear. “Wake up, baby.”

Mark shakes his head to get rid of the annoying sensation and turns his face, blinking wearily up at him before turning to look at his father.

Taeyong crouches in front of them and smiles. “Hey.” Mark stretches out his arms and Taeyong gently takes him from Ten’s arms, hugging him onto his shoulder. Then he turns those eyes on Ten again. “Thank you for watching him.”

“Yeah.” He looks away, running a hand through his hair to fix it into place.

Taeyong stands and walks over into the kitchen, presumably to say goodbye to Johnny and Taeil. Those traitors didn’t even wake him when they got back. He turns his gaze on Yangyang and Donghyuck. The omega pup has an arm around Yangyang’s shoulders, but his son doesn’t seem to mind, leaning into his friend. He hears Taeyong and Mark heading for the door. Yukhei’s enthusiastic goodbye to the smaller alpha. And then a hushed “Daddy, ask Mr. Ten about the thing.”

Oh God, what thing?

He stands, folding the blankets up and then hears Taeyong awkwardly clear his throat. “Ten?”

“Yes?” He turns his uninterested gaze on the alpha, Mark is hanging back just beside his father’s legs.

“Well, um, I was wondering if Mark and Yangyang could maybe have a playdate one of these days?” Taeyong smiles, all friendly as usual. “Maybe at the park?”

Ten glances at Mark, who smiles, hopeful, even from where he’s kind of hiding behind his father’s leg. A playdate means he has to spend time with Taeyong. Just the two of them. Alone. It sounds like hell.

“Please, momma!!!” Yangyang comes barreling into his legs all of a sudden. Damn his son’s sharp ears. “Please! Pleaseeeee!”

And dammit, he can’t say no to his baby!

“Ok, fine, alright—” he reaches down to ruffle Yangyang’s hair, who giggles delightfully and bounces over to Mark’s side triumphantly—“We’re free on Sundays.”

“Is 1 alright?”

“Sure, we can meet at the park, unless you pick us up since you know where we live, right?”

Taeyong blushes pink and looks less earnest, smile faltering a bit. 

Good. 

“Sunday, 1 o’clock at the park then?”

“Yep.”

Mark grins and suddenly hugs onto his leg, “Thank you so much, Mr. Ten!”

“Yeah, baby,” he smiles and leans down to ruffle the pup’s hair affectionately.

Mark returns to Taeyong’s side, grabbing onto his father’s hand. Taeyong waves goodbye and they leave. Yangyang waves right back and Ten.

Ten doesn’t know how much he’ll regret saying yes. But then Yangyang sends the biggest smile his way and he forgets why he was ever gonna refuse in the first place.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins.
> 
> I took a lot of inspiration from Rosie off of Jojo Rabbit (2019) for Ten's character (and also just how genuinely sweet he is with Yangyang irl)
> 
> And can you believe it?! A very lovely person made [these very lovely edits](https://twitter.com/adlssn/status/1284137949659947009) of my work! Check them out and show them some love!
> 
> Also if you love Ten as much as I do, I think you'll appreciate [this](https://twitter.com/chittaphonsmole?lang=en)!
> 
> Hope y'all liked this one and that you're all doing well and staying safe and healthy!  
> <3


	4. Chapter 4

Yangyang bounces on the balls of his feet, swaying back and forth. Up on his tippy toes and back down again. Excitement thrums through the little boy, in the crease of his eyes, in the grin on his lips, in the hum he happily sings.

Ten smiles, adjusting his son’s jacket. “Excited, baby?” He pulls a beanie over his head, stroking his hair so it sticks out nice beneath the dark blue cotton. Yangyang nods and his smile only grows bigger when his mother pecks his cheeks, and then his chin, and then his forehead, and then his nose.

“Momma!” He holds up his arms to block the kissie assault.

“Whaaaaat? Let me love youuuuu,” Ten coos, wrapping his arms around his pup. Yangyang blushes pink and takes on the offensive, leaping at Ten to wrap his arms around his neck in a snug hug. Ten grins almost as big as Yangyang and hugs him just as tight, pressing his nose to the side of his head, where his hair overlaps with his little ears, where his baby’s scent lingers, _his baby._

“Momma, we’re gonna be late.”

Ten lets go to cup Yangyang’s face in his hands, “Now who’s rushing who?”

Yangyang chuckles and pulls on his arms, little hands in the sleeves of his old green jacket. The dye is fading on the elbows and the cuffs, he’s had this jacket since high school, if he remembers correctly. “Come on! The bus, momma!”

“Ok, ok, just let me get my bag.”

Yangyang dashes for the door as Ten stands from where he was kneeling. “Are we going somewhere after, momma?” He asks, watching as his mother grabs his same old sidebag. He thinks maybe his mother would like a backpack better. Backpacks hold a lot more and the straps are comfy and have long strings to play with.

“We might.”

“Groceries?”

“Yeah, sort of. There’s an important date coming up.”

“Moving day!” Yangyang grins, hopping up and down.

“That’s right, baby.” Ten smiles and opens the door. Yangyang hops out in what looks like an impression of a kangaroo, a cute joey. He’d already informed the landlord of their moving out and even got in contact with their new landlords, a nice elderly couple. All in all, everything is going swell. “But there’s another important date coming up too.”

They cross the lot and the street to the bus stop, holding hands all the while. Ten keeps Yangyang close even while sitting in empty seats towards the middle of the bus, which he’s been doing ever since that-one-incident-that-shall-not-be-named. Yangyang cocks his head and looks up at him. “Halloween?”

“Mmm, close, but no.”

Yangyang twists his face up, holding a hand up to his chin as he thinks. Ten smiles fondly, fixing his pup’s beanie again. “Moving day?”

“You already said that.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Want me to tell you?”

Yangyang nods. Ten leans down, cupping a hand over his baby’s ear as he whispers the very important date. Yangyang’s eyes go wide as saucers and he gasps. Ten grins and holds a finger over his lips. Yangyang cups his hands over his mouth, giggling behind them softly.

Ten shakes his head and squeezes his son softly, “You forgot your birthday, baby?”

“Yeah,” Yangyang giggles.

“We’ll celebrate it in our new home, ok? You know what kind of cake you want?”

“Mm, I think I want an ice cream cake.”

“You _think_ you want one or you do?”

Yangyang grins up at Ten, “I want one, momma.”

“Ok, ok, I think I can find you one for your birthday. Do you want a specific flavor?”

“Chocolate,” Yangyang kicks his feet back and forth. Smile permanent on his lips, just like Ten likes.

“Alright, I’ll search all the land for your chocolate ice cream cake. I’ll make sure to find it for you, little prince.”

Yangyang snorts and chuckles, “I’m not a prince and I’m not little. I’m gonna be 6!”

“You’re _my_ little prince,” Ten sighs, “6 already, huh? You gotta stop growing, baby.” 

And he nearly tears up, thinking of when he first had Yangyang, when he finally got to hold his baby that he’d patiently and carefully made in the pit of his stomach for the better part of a year. He remembers the tiny fingers that could barely wrap around one of his own, the tiny wisps of hair on his head, and the pinkish tint on his face as he cried and breathed for the very first time. His perfect little baby boy that he’d do anything for. It seems like he blinked and Yangyang was no longer that little helpless baby, but a brave and smart little toddler.

He smiles and strokes his bangs again, fixing them. “Since you’re gonna be 6, that means you’ve gotta go to school, like Mark and Yukhei and Hyuckie, you know?” Yangyang pursues his lips into a straight line and looks up at his mother. Ten can tell from his expression that he’s thinking, but he doesn’t know what about. “I think you might like it.”

Yangyang shakes his head and scoots closer, practically molding himself to his side. “I don’t know, momma…”

“You don’t want to?” Ten’s brows quirk up with concern. Yangyang shakes his head no again. “Hey, why are you upset, baby?”

“I don’t wanna go to school… I wanna stay with you.”

“School is just like the daycare, baby. You stay there while momma works and you do lots of fun things during the day.”

Yangyang shakes his head again, petulantly, and hides his face in his side. Ten pets a hand over his back and wonders why he’s so against it. Really, Yangyang should have been enrolled for 1st grade already, but he’s been all over the place that he kind of forgot. He wonders if it’s too late to enroll him now. Johnny and Taeil got onto him whenever the fall semester started in August, when Donghyuck started school, but his main concern was getting the few more dollars needed to move away from those god-awful apartments. And now that they _are_ moving, he might have just screwed up his pup’s education by not prepping him and then enrolling him into a school.

“Will you think about it, Yangyang? Please. For me, baby?”

Yangyang very quietly whispers an ‘ok’, barely audible over the squeal of the bus, but Ten is very attuned to his baby. It’s gonna be tough to ease his shy baby to be comfortable with the idea of being apart from him and in a completely different setting with more strangers and more rules. Ten knows he can do it, he knows his pup is smart, but he isn’t going to push him to do something he doesn’t want to do without knowing if he’s going to be ok or not. He mentally scolds himself for not thinking of preparing Yangyang for school. It’s not like he was gonna be able to keep his son with him at all times.

The bus comes squealing to a stop at the corner of the park. Yangyang holds onto his hand as they hop off and follows along beside him, kicking and stepping on the leaves on the ground, frowning when they don’t give that satisfying crunch underfoot. They’re supposed to meet up with Taeyong and Mark at the kiddy playground, but they must be early because they’re the only ones there save for a couple on the opposite side, two women laughing and smiling, a pup with them with the same expression, giggling as she runs up the steps to go down the blue slide again. A happy little family, Ten frowns.

And even though the sky is grey and bleak above, full of clouds, Yangyang is still smiling like he’s won the lottery or won all the candies he can imagine. Ten smiles and sits on one of the wooden benches overlooking the playground. It really stands out with all those primary colors, yellow bars, blue slide, red jungle gym. “They should be here soon, baby.”

Yangyang fiddles with his beanie, tucking his ears beneath it. “It’d be cool if Ducky came.”

“Yeah, but Mark wanted to hang out with you only.” He watches as Yangyang steps closer to him, grabbing onto one of his hands to hold as he starts looking this way and that, little eyes searching for his friend. He squeezes Yangyang’s hand softly and smiles when he squeezes back, seemingly without a thought, instinctively. Maybe he could homeschool Yangyang.

The idea seems good until he realizes that teaching Yangyang would take a lot of patience and a lot of time. He’s still gotta work and he doesn’t want his son’s education to suffer from his incompetence. He doesn’t really have many options besides warming his baby up to the idea of school, and he’s gotta do that quickly otherwise he’s gonna be a year behind his classmates, a year older than them. He doesn’t know a lot about pup psychology, but he gets the feeling holding him back isn’t the best idea.

“Look! There they are, momma!” Yangyang grins and waves an arm over his head. And sure enough, Taeyong and Mark are fast approaching. Mark is bundled up in a padded jacket and wearing a cap with a tiger embroidered on the front. He lets go of his father’s hand to run up to them, grinning wide. 

“Hi! Hi!”

Ten smiles. Mark is the cutest pup he’s ever seen (right after Yangyang). “Hi, baby.”

Yangyang hugs his friend. “Hi, Mark!”

Taeyong comes up to them a little more slowly. If Ten were crazy, he’d think he’s just as nervous as he is. “Hello,” he smiles.

Yangyang grins up at the older alpha, “Hi.”

Taeyong smiles down at the pup and then glances up to meet his eyes. Ten puts on a tight smile. “Hey.”

Mark hooks his arm with Yangyang’s, “Can we go play now?”

“Go ahead, puppies,” Ten waves at them to go.

The kiddie duo smile wide and run off, racing each other to the playground. Taeyong watches them go, his hands stuffed in his coat. Ten glances up at him. He’s only gotta deal with him for an hour and the time will go by easier if they aren’t awkward around each other.

“You gonna stand there the whole time?” Taeyong jumps a bit, startled, and glances back at him. Ten pats the spot beside him and Taeyong only hesitates for a few seconds before sitting, leaving some space between them. He glances at him out of the corner of his eye, the alpha is sitting back, hands intertwined on his lap, thumbs twiddling. He’s more nervous than he thought. He wonders why.

“Hey.” Taeyong startles again and turns to look at him, meeting his eyes. “What’s the matter with you? You forgot to take your medicine or something?”

Taeyong blinks a few times and then smiles, “Ha. Uh, no—” he lets go of his hands and rubs them off on his jeans—“I just… I’m sorry about, you know, that time. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way. I should’ve just left, but I was worried.”

Ten would scoff and roll his eyes, but Taeil’s words and stern eyes flash in his consciousness. He sighs and picks at a thread at the end of his jacket. “No, I’m sorry I said all those things to you. I’m thankful you helped me. But, uh, next time maybe don’t?”

There’s surprise in his eyes, but a smile on his lips. “I hope there won’t be a next time—” Ten quirks a brow and Taeyong waves his hands—“I mean! Not that I don’t like seeing you! I really like seeing you! I just! I mean, I meant I hope it’s not under _those_ circumstances again, you know?”

Ten chuckles, what a weirdo. Taeyong smiles like he’s relieved. “Sure. And I guess I should thank you for all the stuff you bought too. You didn’t have to though. I had to tell Yangyang a fairy had put it all there.”

Taeyong giggles, cheeks tinting pink. “A fairy, really?”

“Well, yeah, I couldn’t tell him you did. He’s little but he’d still get the wrong idea.” Ten lets his gaze travel back to the playground. Mark is showing Yangyang how to run up the slide, instead of going down it like normal.

“Yeah… about that. Taeilie told me it wouldn't be the best way to go about courting the person you're interested in.”

“...”

Did he hear him right? 

Courting? 

Interested? 

He hasn’t been courted since— 

Ha! He must be joking, of course! Ten grins at the fool of an alpha. “You don’t even know me.”

Taeyong quirks a brow at his expression, turning in his seat to face him. “I’d like to get to know you—” Ten chuckles—“i… if you’ll let me.”

“Listen, Taeyong, you seem like an alright person, but don’t get your hopes up. I’m not looking for someone to hold me back. I have a pup to look after, I don’t have time for courting, dating, whatever.”

Taeyong frowns and turns back around, his hands come to rest on his lap again. “I see… I’m sorry.”

Ten crosses his arms over his chest and tries to ignore the wounded whine of his omega that got excited at the prospect of a date. For an alpha, Taeyong is oddly very… passive.

“And stop saying sorry. You’ll sound like a doormat and people will treat you like one.”

Taeyong glances at him, surprised. He sees him open his mouth to say sorry again, but catches himself. 

“R-Right. Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. But, um, can I still get to know you though? I haven’t met anyone as impressive as you. Taeilie told me you’ve been raising Yangyang on your own since he was a tiny baby. And, you know, kids just copy whatever we do and Yangyang is really kind and thoughtful.” He giggles, bringing up a hand to cover his mouth. “One time before Mark and I left for the night, he tried to get us to stay a little longer. He said he’d even order us all pizza and we could party while he waited for you to get off work. I didn’t know pups could even learn to do that. He’s a really smart kid. It made me more curious about you.”

Ten hums.

First, he’s gotta find out what Taeil is up to, telling Taeyong about him behind his back, and, second, what is even Taeyong? He _knows_ Yangyang is amazing, but he also knows that his pup is _so_ shy and quiet. That he wanted Taeyong and Mark around and would even go out of his way to use the phone, which he’s reluctant to do at all times, speaks volumes of them, and his relationship with them.

And here he is, being a stick in the mud about it. He must have come off as really stuck up to Taeyong. He feels bad. He turns a bit to face the alpha. “Do you and Mark like chicken?” He musters a friendly smile. “There’s a fried chicken place not far from here. It’s really good and hella cheap.”

Taeyong blushes and smiles, “We love fried chicken.”

Ten smiles. Okay. He can do this. Maybe Taeyong isn’t a regular alpha… Maybe. They gather their pups and start on their way down to the little restaurant. Yangyang holds onto Mark’s hand, leading him ahead, pointing at the street signs and landmarks. “This way! Once you pass the gas station, it’s just ahead!” Mark grins, nodding along.

Before long, they’ve arrived and ordered and sat at one of the old yellow tables, under equally yellow lights. The whole place reeks of grease and batter and chicken, but they all sighed at the aroma like walking into a long-lost home full of nostalgic scent. Yangyang and Mark sit in front of each other, leaving Ten and Taeyong to sit in front of each other too. The alpha shares two yeast buns, chicken tenders, fries, and mashed potatoes with brown gravy with his pup. Ten and Yangyang share two yeast buns, spicy chicken tenders, fried okra, and mashed potatoes with white gravy.

Mark gets up in his seat, watching as Yangyang reaches into their box of food for some of the okra. He tugs on his father’s coat. “Daddy, what’s that?”

“Fried okra, I think.”

Yangyang stuffs two of the brown bits into his mouth and reaches in the box again, offering Mark one. “Wanna try it? It’s really good.”

Mark takes it and very slowly takes a small bite. He smiles suddenly and looks up at his father. “It’s good! Try it!” Taeyong smiles and accepts the rest of the piece Mark feeds him.

Yangyang and Mark both laugh at Taeyong’s over-reaction, slumping back in his seat and holding his hands to his heart as he chews. Ten smiles and shakes his head. This is a grown alpha? 

“I can’t believe you’ve never given your pup okra before,” he says when Yangyang and Mark have distracted themselves talking about their other favorite foods as they eat.

“He really likes the fries,” Taeyong shrugs and then smirks. “I can’t believe you make your pup eat spicy tenders.”

Ten gapes in faux-offense, “Excuse me, spicy tenders are way better than the normal ones. I’m sorry you and your puppy have bland taste buds.” Taeyong giggles, his face scrunching up cutely. Ten thinks he really shouldn’t like it as much as he does. “You’re pretty impressive too. You’ve raised him on your own since he was a baby too, right?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong sighs, the slight bags under his eyes become visible when he does. “It wasn’t easy. There aren’t exactly a lot of guides for single alphas raising pups. All the ones I could find talked about supporting your omega partner as _they_ do all the caring and upbringing.”

“Well, I think you’ve done a good job. He’s a good kid,” he says, gesturing at Mark with his chin.

Taeyong smiles, “Thanks.”

They lapse into silence, looking away for a moment to check on their pups, make sure they haven’t got their lunch all over themselves, before their eyes meet again.

“So, um, what do you work as?” Taeyong starts.

“I’m a launderer at this hotel. It’s one of the nice ones so they work us hard,” Ten smiles.

“Oh, that’s cool.”

Ten snorts, “No, it’s not.”

“I think it’s cool. I’d rather do sheets than clean the rooms people stay in.”

“Well, when you put it that way.” Taeyong smiles. Ten takes a sip of his shared soda with Yangyang. “What do you do?”

“I work in an office.”

“Oh, you’re one of those white collars?”

Taeyong rubs the back of his neck, “Not exactly. I’m the one they send on errands and stuff. If they want coffee, they send me. If something needs to be picked up or printed, there I am.” He shrugs. “It’s not that bad. The pay is decent enough.”

“You used to be a firefighter though?”

Taeyong blushes, the question clear on his face.

“I only know cause junior told me,” Ten smiles and gestures at Yangyang, still distracted with fries in one hand and a half-eaten tender in the other one.

“Oh—” Taeyong smiles—“Yeah, I did for a little bit when Markie was still a baby. They paid enough for diapers and the special formula, and free housing at the station.”

Ten’s eyes widen, “I didn’t know you could even keep kids there. Don’t the alarms go off really loud in there?”

“Yeah, they do. I had to invest in those headphones for babies. The soundproof ones, you know?”

“And what would you do when you guys got called? I know you didn’t take him with you, right?”

Taeyong chuckles, “No. Actually, I was hired to keep the place nice and clean. But I was pretty much there all the time, I could’ve been a legit firefighter.”

“Wait, what? Why weren’t you?”

“Well cause you need to go through a special program and for the program, you need a diploma. I couldn’t finish high school cause of everything going on, you know—” Taeyong smiles slightly and shrugs, glancing at Mark, who’s pulled their soda into his lap, sipping away—“It wasn’t easy.” He strokes the back of his pup’s head, “Not so much, baby.” Mark glances up at him and smiles, before setting the cup back on the table.

After that, they talk a little more about their pups and the weird quirks they have. The situations they’ve gotten themselves into trying to help and push their babies to be good little people. As it turns out, he and Taeyong have a lot more in common than he previously thought. They part ways when their pups start getting drowsy, and Ten has a hard time saying no when Taeyong offers to walk them home. 

But they both eagerly agree to hang out again sometime.

~~~

“Ten!”

“Hm? Yeah? What?” He looks up from his empty plate at his best friend, standing on the other side of the counter, holding a bottle of wine. Johnny quirks a brow and holds the bottle up. Ten nods and holds out his glass, letting Johnny serve him some more.

“Dude, are you ok? You’ve been real… spaced out lately.”

“Yeah, I’m fine—” he sips at his wine—“Just thinking.”

“What about?”

Well, what is he thinking about? He was worrying about Yangyang and the situation with school, but ultimately decided to push that problem back until they moved. The landlord of the apartment they live in now gave them till the end of the week to pack up and move, which is more than enough time, but he does have to stay up an hour every night to pack little by little cause he still has to work. Johnny already agreed to help him move his things to the new apartment. He was also wondering if he should hold a party for Yangyang’s birthday or take him wherever he wanted for the day. If he has a party, he can invite the Moon Suh’s and the Kim’s and the Lee’s. 

Mark and Taeyong. 

Taeyong…

They’ve gotten closer, had a few more playdates for their pups. Both Yangyang and Taeyong have a flowery base to their scent, but his pup’s got an old papery tint to it. Like his father. Yangyang’s father smelled like old newspapers and ink. And Ten used to be the perfect housewife, he remembers it all bitterly. He cleaned, cooked, took care of Yangyang, ran errands, made sure the apartment was done up pretty. He always stayed up, waiting for _him_ to come back from work with a warm homemade meal and open legs. And then the asshole went and got drunk and killed himself by walking into the path of an 18-wheeler.

He scoffs and downs the rest of his wine. “Nothing.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing.”

Johnny quirks a brow, but lets it go, sitting beside him. Ten leans his head on his shoulder.

“What about you?”

Johnny glances back into the living room where Yangyang, Donghyuck, and Yukhei are puppy piling with Taeil while they watch a movie. The tv illuminates their faces, bundled in a few blankets on the couch. He makes sure they aren’t listening before turning back around, lowering his voice to a murmur. “Ilie’s parents are coming to stay with us for a while. Said they miss being around their grandkids.” Ten whistles under his breath and Johnny chuckles, taking a swig from the wine bottle. “Yeah, my exact reaction.”

It’s no secret that Taeil’s parents aren’t exactly fond of Johnny. Ten will never know why. He’s like the most loveable person on the planet. “And they’re gonna be staying here?”

“Yup. In the guest room.”

“Do they know you guys run a literal daycare in here?”

“Yup.”

“Damn… sucks to be you.”

“Yeah,” Johnny sighs. “Ilie thinks this’ll finally bring them around. But all I’m saying is if they really wanna spend more time with Hyuckie and Hei, they can always visit. I mean, they’re loaded, Ten, like super loaded. They live on their own estate a little further north from where our high school was. That’s not _that_ far.”

“Rich people land,” Ten murmurs.

“Yeah, _there_.” Johnny shakes his head, buries his hands in his hair. “It’s gonna be hell here for a while.”

“Well, I do hope they come around,” he pats his best friend’s back.

“Me too. I hope they come around like you did with Taeyong.”

Ten blushes red and wraps his arms around Johnny’s neck, pulling him into a headlock. “Shut the hell up!” Johnny cackles as he chokes and struggles.

~~~

“Yes, ma’am. I understand… No, ma’am, that’s alright… Thank you, ma’am… You too.”

Ten sighs and hangs the phone back on the hook. He hurries back over to Doyoung’s side, past loud washing machines and dryers. They heft wet sheets out of a washer and push them into a dryer.

Doyoung studies his expression. “What’s the matter? You were smiling big just a minute ago.”

“Nothing important. Just thinking.”

“Oh, don’t do that. You’ll hurt yourself, Ten.”

Ten smiles and elbows Doyoung’s side. His partner chuckles and dodges out of the way. They walk over to another of their dryers, sheets inside done and ready to be folded.

That was his new landlord calling. He and Yangyang were supposed to finally move in tonight, but they found a few roaches in the place and are fumigating it. The poison won’t go away for another 24 hours so now he’s gotta find somewhere for him and Yangyang to stay for the night. 

He doesn’t have the extra money to spare for a motel. He can’t stay with Johnny and Taeil because of the situation with the parents. He could ask Doyoung, but he knows they don’t have the space to accommodate them in their apartment. His only other choice would be— 

“Look alive,” Doyoung whispers, nudging him out of his thinking. Ten looks towards where he gestures. Kun is walking the room, making sure everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing. He passes by them as they’re ironing a sheet. Here’s his chance.

“Excuse me, Mr. Nakamoto.”

Kun stops in his tracks and narrows his eyes at them, even Doyoung looks at him funny. “Yes, Ten?”

“I have a little issue I’d like to talk to you about—” he smiles politely, unlike he would any other time just to get on his nerves—“Can we talk at the end of my shift?”

Kun quirks a brow and glances at his watch, “That’s not for another two hours. We can talk now if you want.”

“No, it’s actually kind of private, Mr. Qiaannn.”

Doyoung stifles a chuckle and Kun sighs around a smile. “Ok, I’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you, sir,” he bows exaggeratedly and Kun has to bite his cheeks to keep from laughing as he continues to check on everyone else.

“You’re not working till 10 anymore?” Doyoung asks.

“Nope. We moved to some different apartments and they’re way nicer. Also, the landlords are an old couple so I convinced them to give me lower rent.”

“Wow! That’s great news, Ten! Congrats!” Doyoung pats him on the back.

“Thanks,” he smiles.

They continue working, folding sheets, washing them, drying them. No towel duty today or silk pillowcases. Ten is starting to feel a weary strain along his back muscles by the time his shift is over, a dull pain nearing his lower back and just below his shoulder blades. 

Doyoung smiles when he notices his grimaces as he stretches. “Get you a mate to massage your back for you.”

“I don’t need no alpha,” he hollers as Doyoung walks off. His partner only shakes his head and waves as he leaves. “The nerve of that man,” he mutters to himself and goes upstairs to meet up with his manager.

Kun is typing on his computer but waves him in. “Hi, Ten. What did you wanna talk about?” He stares at his screen a moment before rolling back to face Ten with a small smile.

Ten makes himself comfortable on one of the seats and folds his hands on his lap. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

Kun’s brow folds with concern. “What is it?”

“Well, you see, Yangyang and I are moving, but we kind of can’t move in yet and we’ve already moved out of the old place—” he fiddles with his fingers—“I was wondering if it wouldn’t be too much of a bother to ask if we can spend the night with you. We don’t take up a lot of space and it’ll just be for tonight. It’s ok if you can’t, we can—”

“Nonsense! Of course, you can stay with us! Aw, I’ve been dying to meet little Yangyang!” Kun grins and clicks on his computer, presumably shutting it down, before standing and rounding the desk to hug him. “You’re always welcome with us, Ten. We have a guest room. It’s not that big though.”

Ten smiles, a bit surprised at Kun’s enthusiasm. He was expecting to be rejected. “T-That’s alright. Like I said, we don’t take up much space.”

“Let’s go then. Yangyang is still at the daycare, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Kun hooks his arm with his and leads him out of the office before he can get another word in. “We can pick him up and head on to my place.” In a daze, they get his bag, and then Kun leads him to the lot where his car is. The radio is playing classical music and well he isn’t really surprised. He gives Kun directions towards Johnny and Taeil’s place, and then hops off when they arrive.

“I’ll just be real quick.”

“No worries,” Kun smiles.

Ten walks up to Johnny and Taeil’s door. It opens before he can knock, Taeil peeks out, smiling, hair as dishevelled as it always is at the end of the day. “Hi, Ten.”

“Hi. I’m here for my puppy.”

Taeil steps aside, letting him in. “He’s playing with Hyuckie somewhere in here.”

“In that case, can I see the boxes really quick? I just need to grab some clothes for the night.”

“You’re not moving, yet?” Taeil asks, already leading him down the hall to the small laundry room. He was able to fit all of his and Yangyang’s belongings into three cardboard boxes. His friends were holding onto them while they transitioned homes.

“No. The landlord called and said they’re fumigating the place. Can’t move in till tomorrow night.” He opens up the box with their clothes and stuffs a pair of each into his bag along with their toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, and hairbrush.

“Where are you guys staying?” Taeil watches as he does.

“My manager is letting us stay with him and his family.”

“Wow. That’s nice of him. I’d let you guys stay here—”

“I know, but your parents probably wouldn’t like that.”

“Yeah, and the couch isn’t that comfortable.” Taeil smiles sadly. “Sorry, Ten.”

“It’s all good,” he stands, closing up his bag.

“I hear all’s good between you and Yongie too.”

Ten smiles and pretends to clasp his bag closed to keep Taeil from seeing, just in case his cheeks are pink. “Yeah, we’re on good terms.” He turns back around to face him when he’s got control of his facial features again.

Taeil looks into his eyes, searching for something, and then turns away when he’s found it. “Ok.”

“Ok?” Ten follows him as he walks back towards the living room. “That’s all you have to say?”

“Yeah. You are both adults. If you have anything else to confess that isn’t platonic, then that’s between y’all to talk it out.”

Ten bites at the inside of his cheek, mulling it over.

Nope. He’s got nothing to confess.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about—” he spots his pup, laying down on his back between Mark and Donghyuck, just staring up at the ceiling—“Baby Yangyang!”

His son immediately sits up upon hearing his voice and smiles wide, patting his friends on the stomach as a goodbye before running over to him, wrapping himself around one of his legs tightly, nuzzling his thigh. “Hi, momma!”

“Hi, baby. You have a good day?”

“Mhm!”

“That’s great, baby—” he hefts him up onto his hip, waving goodbye to Taeil as they walk out—“You remember my boss, Mr. Kun?”

“Mhm.”

“Well, we’re gonna stay with him for the night.”

Yangyang pouts, “But what about our new home?”

“They found some roaches and it takes some time for the poison to work. You don’t wanna go and sleep in poison, right?”

Yangyang shakes his head no as they get into the car, still pouting. Kun notices and smiles, “So this is the great Yangyang you tell me so much about. He’s much more handsome in real life.”

Yangyang glances at Kun and then looks away, blushing and pressing his hands together on his lap.

“Baby, this is Mr. Kun.”

“You can call me Kun if you want.”

Yangyang’s cheeks turn pinker, nearing red. Ten smiles and pulls their seatbelt on, moving the strap so it isn’t choking his baby while he rides on his lap. “Say hello, baby.”

He mumbles a hi, digging his chin into his chest and then whips around to hide his face in his mother’s arm. Ten smiles fondly and pets a hand over his head. “He’s a little shy.”

“No, it’s fine. He’s very cute,” Kun smiles and starts driving away from the daycare and towards his home.

He’s actually never met Kun’s family and only befriended the omega cause they happened to go to school together, though they never talked back then. He was an average student that got knocked up towards the end and Kun was the valedictorian. Their cliques wouldn’t overlap at all, but they somehow ended up working at the same place as adults.

He glances at Kun, smiling and tapping his index fingers on the wheel in tandem with the radio. Yangyang stares out the window, looking for anything familiar along the way. “You sure your alpha won’t mind us staying with you guys?”

Kun snorts and chuckles softly. “No, he won’t mind. He likes to think of himself as the manliest of alphas—” Kun shrugs but smiles all the same—“whatever that means, but he’s a good person. I have a little tendency to talk about the people I work with. Not in a bad way! And he’s been wanting to meet you.”

Ten doesn’t know what to make of that. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Kun chuckles a bit. “He’s pretty much just an overgrown puppy.”

_That_ does not sound good to Ten. Kun doesn’t seem like the type to mate with someone below him. He doesn’t know what to expect. They pull up in front of a small house, the same style as Taeil and Johnny’s. There’s another car parked in front along the curb, an SUV, the kind families with lots of kids get.

Kun rounds the car with a smile on his face. “It’ll be ok. Come on.” He hurries up to the front door. Ten follows, leading Yangyang along. His son tugs on his hand before they make it up to the door.

“Momma.”

He stops and crouches in front of his pup. “What’s the matter, baby?”

Yangyang looks towards where Kun is feigning a search through his pockets for his house key. “I’m nervous.”

“Aw, well, that’s ok, baby. I’m kind of nervous too. But I used to go to school with Kun and he’s a nice person so I can promise we’ll be ok.”

Yangyang bites the inside of his cheek, holding onto his hand a little more tightly. He thinks about it for a moment before nodding, “Ok.”

“Ok?” Ten smiles and kisses his cheek. “That’s my brave baby.” He stands once Yangyang is smiling again and walks up to Kun as he gets the door open.

And just as Ten predicted, the house has the near exact layout as Johnny’s. Wide doorway to the left of the entry hall and stairs to the right. He wouldn’t say Johnny’s house is messy, but it can only get to a certain level of tidiness since they take care of pups for a living. Kun’s home, on the other hand, is very neat, though he expected nothing less. Beige and cream colors, and the faint smell of cinnamon, pine, and apple cider in the air.

“You can take off your shoes,” Kun says, gesturing at a little shoe cubby as he closes and locks the door.

Ten crouches to help Yangyang undo the laces of his sneakers and slide them into one of the slots beside his own dress shoes. Kun takes off his shoes too and puts them in a slot beside a pair of adult sneakers, smaller sneakers fill the other spaces.

“I’ll introduce you to the family,” Kun grins and leads them towards the living room. Two dark brown couches enclose a little coffee table where 3 pups sit around it, notebooks and crayons and pencils laid out between them, doing their homework. They all look over when they see movement in the doorway and grin wide when they see their mother.

“Mama!”

“Hi, babies! We’re having guests tonight. This is Ten and—”

“I know him. Yangyang,” the middle child says.

Ten blinks surprised and looks down at Yangyang, who’s smiling a bit. “Hi, Renjun. Hi, Chenle.”

The smallest of the pups smiles, the one that looks exactly like Kun, “Hi, Yangyang!”

“You know them, baby?”

Yangyang looks up at him. “They’re the new kids at the daycare.”

“Oh! You know Johnny and Taeil?” He smiles, turning to Kun as he hugs his pups, kissing them each on the forehead.

Kun shakes his head, “Not personally. My mate is friends with their worker. Taeyong is his name, I think?”

Both Ten and Yangyang don’t notice how they start smiling suddenly at the mention of the alpha.

“So, babies, this is my friend, Ten. We work together, and he and his son, Yangyang, are gonna be staying with us for the night. Ten, these are my pups. Sicheng. He’s the oldest. 7 years old. He’s in 3rd grade. Right, baby?”

Sicheng smiles and nods, waving in greeting.

“And this is Renjun, the middle baby. 6 years old and in 1st grade.”

Renjun smiles wide, missing two of his baby teeth. Ten nearly coos at how cute he is.

“And this is Chenle. 4 years old and not in school yet, right, baby?” Kun chuckles when Chenle nods vigorously.

Ten smiles, “It’s nice to meet you all. You’re all so cute.” Kun’s kids all blush pink and smile. Yangyang holds onto his hand, squeezing it almost possessively. Ten nearly chuckles at his son’s cute jealousy.

Kun stands, picking Chenle up as he does, the baby hugs onto his neck, laying his head down on his shoulder. “Where’s your father?”

Sicheng continues with his homework, scribbling in a notebook. “Upstairs.”

“He said he was gonna change—” Renjun puts the crayons back in their carton—“And to tell you that dinner is ready.”

“Ok. Ten, let me show you the room.” Kun smiles and walks past him back into the hall. He stops at a door and opens it. “Here. It really isn’t a lot.”

Ten smiles as he steps into the room, Yangyang follows along behind the two adults. “This is perfect, Kun. Thank you.”

“Of course, you can leave your things in here, get comfortable. I’m just gonna go and check on the hubby upstairs, and then we’ll have dinner, alright?”

“Yeah, don’t let us keep you.”

Kun smiles. Chenle on his shoulder eyes them curiously, or more specifically, eyes Ten curiously, a little twink in his eyes. They leave the room and Ten sighs, setting his bag down on the neatly made bed and undoing the top button on his shirt. Yangyang mimics his tired sigh and peels off his jacket, tossing it onto the bed along with his backpack.

Ten glances down at his pup, putting his hands on his hips. “They seem nice.”

Yangyang nods, also resting his hands on his hips. “They’re smart too. Chenle knows how to read.”

“You know how to read too.”

“Yeah, but he's a baby, momma.”

“Yeah, I guess that is pretty impressive, but their mom is smart too. Kun was _the_ smartest kid when we were in school together.”

“I thought you were the smartest.”

“Not as smart as him.”

Yangyang narrows his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s a lie.”

“I’m serious,” Ten chuckles. “Actually, I was pretty dumb back then. I was in love with your daddy back in those days.”

Yangyang hums. He’s always been indifferent when it comes to the subject of his ‘daddy’, of the alpha that he didn’t get to know. Ten wonders if he should be concerned about his indifference, but he won’t question it for now.

“Are you in love with anyone now?”

Ten smirks and crouches to pull Yangyang into his arms. “Only with you.” Yangyang grins and accepts the kisses he’s given, hugging onto his mother.

“I love you, momma.”

“I love you too, baby, so much.”

“How much?”

“More than you can ever imagine, baby.”

Yangyang smiles and presses their faces together, nuzzling their noses.

There’s a knock at the door and Kun’s voice comes from the other side. “Ten, we’re gonna have dinner if you wanna join us.”

“Coming!” Ten smiles and pats over Yangyang’s shoulders. “We gotta be really nice and polite, ok? Since they’re letting us stay here.”

Yangyang squares his shoulders and nods resolutely, “Yes, momma.”

“Good pup,” he kisses his baby on the forehead and stands, leading him out of the room and towards the kitchen. Ten’s expecting to see the same small style as Johnny’s kitchen, but is surprised to see this room’s been expanded to fit a table big enough for 6 people. 

Sicheng, Renjun, and Chenle are already seated on one side of the table. Kun is pouring out glasses of what looks like tea or some sort of juice from a glass pitcher. And his mystery mate is serving out plates of… green spaghetti?

Kun sets the pitcher down on the island and smiles, patting his mate’s shoulder. “Ten, this is my husband.” His mate looks up and grins. Ten’s seen his picture before, but he’s got a more boyish handsomeness to him in person. 

“Hello, you must be the infamous Ten and little Yangyang—” he rounds the island, gesturing at his basketball shorts and baggy shirt—“I had to get decent since we have guests over, but Kunnie tells me you two were school friends so you guys are practically like family already.” He sees Kun covering his mouth, trying to keep from laughing aloud. “Oh, wait, where are my manners?” He bows low, his face nearly level with Yangyang’s as he does. “Yuta Nakamoto, at your service.”

Yangyang giggles at the alpha’s antics, and Ten swears he’s never seen Kun laugh so hard.

“You’re doing too much, papa,” Sicheng mumbles, shaking his head while his brothers laugh.

“It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for having us,” Ten says once Yuta is standing upright again. He’s a little taller. The same height as Taeyong, his mind supplies.

“Of course! Any friend of Kunnie is a friend of mine. But please have a seat, you all must be hungry!”

Ten and Yangyang sit opposite the Nakamoto kids while their parents occupy the end seats. Yuta serves them all a plate of the green spaghetti, which now that he sees it more clearly is zucchini and carrot spirals with tomatoes and some kind of yellow sauce pooling at the bottom. And it’s been a while since he’s had any fresh food like this so he isn’t complaining. Yangyang not so discreetly sniffs at his plate.

Yuta notices as he sits, “This is vegetarian spaghetti. It’s a recipe I uncovered after many, many, many years of searching through the ruins of old civilizations—” Yangyang glances up at the alpha with wide eyes—“I discovered it to be the very same recipe that dinosaurs would use! Dinosaurs loved vegetarian spaghetti! They even worshipped it!”

Yangyang turns to him with a wide smile. “Did you hear that, momma?!”

“Yeah, baby,” he smiles. 

The room grows quiet as they all start to eat, their forks clinking against their plates. Kun and Yuta talk softly with their pups, ask them about their day and what they did. They all seem to have a good relationship, so much so Ten almost feels like he’s part of the family and this is just another day in their house. And Yangyang is eating well and eagerly, which already makes for a happy mood for Ten.

It’s when they’re nearly done that he decides he should try and be a little friendlier. He’s curious about the alpha worthy enough for someone like Kun.

“So, Yuta, what do you do for a living?”

Yuta grins, “I’m glad you asked! I teach self-defense courses for omegas.”

Ten can feel his eyes widen comically. “Really?”

“Yup! It’s a small studio a little bit of a way from here, but I have classes year-round. And, no, I don’t get handsy with my students. I belong to one person and one person only,” he smiles and bats his lashes at Kun, sitting across the table.

Kun rolls his eyes but smiles, “That doesn’t stop the single ones from trying though. Yuta’s a good teacher. Whenever I get the chance to drop by, they always compliment him and tell me I’m the luckiest omega in the world.”

“Wow, that’s really amazing, Yuta.”

“Mhm, my parents didn’t have the best relationship and I kind of got the inspiration from that,” Yuta smiles. “You work with Kunnie though. How’s that?”

“It’s good. He doesn’t mess around,” Ten smirks, glancing over at Kun. Kun smiles exasperatedly.

“Oh, yeah, that sounds like him alright. He likes to get stuff done.” Yuta chuckles. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Sicheng slides out of his seat, depositing his plate in the sink. He kisses Kun on the cheek and then walks around the table to kiss his father on the cheek too. “Thank you, papa.”

“You’re most welcome, my baby,” Yuta grins, kissing Sicheng on his cheek. The pup wipes at his cheek and walks off. Renjun and Chenle dismiss themselves after that, saying goodnight as they do. Kun and Yuta stand to pick up and Ten follows, setting his and Yangyang’s plates in the sink. Kun shoos him away before he can help them.

“You don’t have to. I’m sure you and Yangyang are tired. We can go drop off our kids tomorrow and get to work, hm?”

“Uh, yeah, ok. Thank you for dinner, it was really good,” he says, addressing the couple.

Yuta nods and smiles, already washing dishes. Kun shoos him off once again. “See you in the morning, Ten.”

“Ok. Goodnight.”

The couple says goodnight as he and Yangyang go back to their room. Yangyang yawns and rubs at his eyes once the door is closed behind them. “That was pretty good, huh?”

“Yeah…”

Ten coos and leads his drowsy pup into the bathroom. They don’t take long to shower and get ready for bed and by the time they’re both tucked in, Yangyang is already dead asleep, curled into him, little nose pressed to his scent gland. Ten purrs happily and hugs his baby close.

Things are starting to look up.

He smiles and lets himself travel to dreamland along with Yangyang.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hue, hue, hue. The ride is picking up and I hope y'all are liking it.
> 
> Thank y'all for giving this story a chance :)


	5. Chapter 5

Slamming doors. Right in his face, centimeters away from his nose, so close that he swears they’ve more than grazed him. 

It takes a few moments for him to realize the sound isn’t coming from his dreams. He blinks a few times, adjusting to the dark of the room on the very small light that comes from the clock on the nightstand. Yangyang is still fast asleep, splayed out on his back, and breathing deeply, tiny lips parted slightly.

Another slam and the faint rattle of dishes wakes him completely. He sits up, straining to hear anything else. Sliding off the bed and stepping carefully over to the door, he presses his ear against it. Two voices talking, but he can’t make out what’s being said.

He glances over his shoulder at the clock again. It’s early morning. Almost time for him to wake up. He turns the knob of the door slowly and opens it just a smidge.

The house is dark, bathed only in the very little light of the sun, just under the curve of the horizon, purple and grey. He hears a flip being switched and a clean line of yellow light drapes itself across the floor and wall. The voices start again, from the kitchen down the hall.

“Kunnie—”

“No. Yuta, you can’t keep doing that.”

“But I—”

A plate clatters loudly like it was put down too fast. Yuta hisses and the both of them quiet, probably listening to see if they woke anybody up. The silence stretches for a few minutes.

They resume what they were doing. He hears the sizzle of a pan, the faint smell of oil starts to waft in the air.

“I’m upset that you didn’t tell me. We’re a team. We’re supposed to discuss everything together, especially financial matters.”

“I just… I thought you’d be ok with it.”

“When have I ever been ok with us getting less money?”

Yuta falls silent. Ten wonders if he should be listening in on their conversation. He really probably shouldn’t, but the strain in Kun’s voice worries him. It all sounds like the beginning of a fight, he’ll try and ignore what they’re arguing about.

“Yu, our sons are in school, a private school that costs half my paycheck. Soon, Chenle will be joining them too. He’s going to need uniforms too and school supplies. All of them will. We don’t know if the school will require us to buy more things for them. We don’t know if there’ll be an accident. Maybe one of the cars will break down, maybe something goes wrong with the house. We don’t know what, but it’s gonna cost. I just need you to think, Yuta, please, and understand what I’m trying to tell you.”

“Well, what do you want me to do? Omegas keep dropping out because they can’t afford the classes. They _need_ these classes, Kun. I can’t live with myself knowing that every day they’re going back to abusive assholes that will just as soon beat them than talk out any problems! I had to lower the prices. I had to! They have pups too. Do you know how horrible it is to see your mother get beat and mistreated by an alpha that claims to love them and do anything for them?!”

“Baby, I understand! I understand, ok?! I need you to understand what I’m saying!”

His breath catches in his throat, fear filling his veins when he hears Yuta growl lowly. He pushes himself away from the door to frantically search his bag for his mace. His hands still when he hears someone sigh. He doesn’t hear anything being thrown or any whimpers.

“I’m sorry,” Yuta murmurs softly. “I’m sorry. I understand, ok? I do. I just… Kun, I just can’t live with that, I can’t…”

He tip-toes over to the door again, biting his nails unconsciously.

“I know… I know you’re just doing what’s right, but, Yu, we have to live too. Our babies need us to do our best. _I_ need you to do your best.”

“Yeah… I know… I won’t do it again. I’ll talk to you next time.”

“I love you, Yuta.”

“I love you more, Kunnie.”

He hears the soft smack of lips and steps away from the door after closing it quietly. He sighs, seating himself on the bed. The tension leaves his body, somehow strung up along with the mated pair’s argument.

That was the first time he’s ever witnessed an argument that hasn’t ended in black and blue bruises and broken furniture. He’s heard and seen and met many omegas that were victims of their mate’s abuse. He remembers his mother and father, always at each other’s throats over tiny issues. They never fought physically, but they argued and argued every minute and over anything they could. Johnny and Taeil argued plenty of times before they married. He’s sure they still do from time to time, but never in front of him or their pups, and Ten wouldn’t even be friends with Johnny if he were the type of alpha to lay his hands on an omega.

The moment leaves him with many conflicted thoughts and feelings, but one notion rises clear over the others: if he’s ever going to try and love someone again, he wants an alpha like Johnny and Yuta.

The light under the door grows brighter. The sun is still rising and he hears someone going back upstairs. It’s about time he wakes his pup and gets him ready for the day.

He smiles, turning to look at his baby. Yangyang has twisted onto his side, one arm stretched over his head, the other tucked under him. The hem of his pajama shirt is pulled up, revealing his little tummy. He crawls closer, stroking a hand over the curve of his little cheeks. His pup has steadily lost his baby fat and he’s a gaunt little thing, bearing a little more resemblance to his late father. Yangyang scrunches up his nose at the barely-there touches and rolls onto his back.

“Baby. Baby Yangyang.” He leans down, pressing his mouth to his baby’s exposed belly before blowing a loud raspberry.

Yangyang startles awake, grinning and kicking sleepily. “Momma!”

Ten pulls away to press a big loud wet kiss to his forehead, “Good morning, my most handsome little prince!”

Yangyang giggles and wipes at his forehead, blinking sleepily still. “Momma, did you have candy?”

“Mmm, no, I don’t think so. Why?” He grins and crosses his legs, pulling to cradle his baby on his lap. “Do I smell like candy?”

His baby curls up in his arms, nuzzling his cheek where it rests on the front of his shoulder. “No. You smell like normal.”

“So like crap?”

Yangyang bursts into another fit of giggles, fiddling with the buttons of his mother’s pajama shirt.

“You don’t smell like crap, momma. I like how you smell.”

Ten smiles, feels warmth in his chest. “I like how you smell too—” he kisses Yangyang’s forehead again and sits him up—“Time to get ready, baby.”

“Ok,” Yangyang smiles and slides off the bed, running over to his bag to grab his clothes. He sets the folded garments on the bed and runs back over to the bag, drawing out his momma’s clothes too, setting them down on the bed beside his clothes.

“Thank you, baby.”

Yangyang grins up at him, puffing out his chest proudly. Side by side, they dress. Yangyang steals glances at him as they do, imitating all he does down to trying to fold his pajamas and pretending to knot a tie around his neck. Ten has to hold in a laugh, but does allow himself to smile fondly at his baby.

A soft knock at the door draws their attention. Yangyang runs to hide behind the bed, peeking out from behind it like a spy. He holds up a finger to his lips when Ten quirks a brow down at him.

“Ten.” Kun’s voice comes from the other side.

“Shhh,” he hears Yangyang whisper behind him as he reaches for the doorknob. He smiles and opens the door slowly. Kun stands on the other side, smiling and dressed into his uniform suit.

“Good morning.”

“Mornin’.”

“Sleep well?”

“Slept like a baby.”

Kun grins, “Well, we’ll be leaving in a few. I made breakfast too.”

“Oh, thank you but—”

“It’s really simple,” Kun pats his shoulder before he can get another word in. “Just come to the kitchen whenever you’re ready.” He smiles and walks off.

Ten watches him go with a small smile. He started working under Kun two years ago and he’s so much different than what he remembers. In high school, Kun was a saint, a bright-eyed saint with full cheeks and the adoration of all the school staff and student body. He’s since shed all that kid-like innocence and little bit of extra fat, now he’s sharp and doesn’t mess around. Actually, he seems like the type of parent to let his kids eat food off the floor because he believes it’ll improve their immune systems.

“Momma.”

“Hm?”

Yangyang moves around his legs to close the door, “It’s not safe out there, momma. I gotta keep you safe.” Ten grins as Yangyang grabs his hand, leading him away from the door and to the bathroom.

“What’s out there?” He asks, playing along.

“You don’t wanna know,” Yangyang looks up at him with the most serious expression he can muster. He manages to flip the light on in the bathroom before his baby makes him sit on the toilet and then hurries to close the door, turning the knob so it doesn’t click.

Ten watches his pup with a small smile, yawning when he does. “Baby, we need to talk.”

“What about?” Yangyang toddles closer, cuddling into his chest, standing between his legs.

Ten smiles and wraps him up in his arms, hugging him so close he’s sure his baby can hear his heart beat solely for him. “Do you love me, baby?”

Yangyang looks up at him like he just told him he eats worms on the regular. Little face twisted up, nose scrunched, as if to say, “ _DUH! What kind of question was that?_ ” Oh, he definitely learned that from him.

“I love you, momma,” he says finally.

“I love you too,” Ten stands, off the toilet seat to let his baby use it. He hasn’t wet the bed since he turned 5, but he doesn’t wanna incite any accidents either. He watches patiently, makes sure he wipes, and then helps him reach the sink so he can wash his hands. “I love you so much—” he murmurs as he watches Yangyang pat his hands dry on his jeans, seated up on the sink counter—“and you know you’re the most important thing in my life, right? That momma only does his best for you, right?”

“Mhm.” Yangyang distracts himself, fiddling with a loose thread at the hem of his shirt. Ten grabs it, wraps it around his finger, and yanks, pulling it off without unraveling it. His baby looks up at him with wonder in his eyes. “How you do that?!”

“How did you do that.”

“How’d you do that?!”

Ten smiles, shakes his head fondly, “Magic.”

Yangyang stares up at him a moment and then busts into a grin, “Can I brush your hair, momma?”

“Sure thing, baby. Just don’t jack it up.”

Yangyang giggles, reaching for the brush they left on the sink the night before as his mother settles between his legs. Ten leans down so his stomach rests against the counter and presses his head to Yangyang’s chest, wrapping his arms around his waist. His baby’s heart thuds away steady and bright and faster than his own. He feels Yangyang’s little hands in his hair, clammy little fingers stroking strands into place, trying to divide it where it belongs, a little off-center.

“Momma, I can’t brush it like this.”

Ten chuckles and sits up, leaning away for Yangyang to take the brush to his hair, combing through it about as well as a pup can. His dark brown roots are growing out. He runs the comb through all the way to the end where it’s starting to fall beneath his jaw, inching to mid-neck.

“Your hair is getting too long.”

“You think so?”

Yangyang nods very seriously and Ten can’t help smiling, watching the concentration on his baby’s features. Eyebrows knit, nose scrunched a little, tongue peeking out between his lips.

“Baby, I think it’s best if you start school soon.”

“No,” Yangyang smiles, sets the brush down. “I have a better idea, momma!”

Ten quirks a brow. “What is it?” He stands to help Yangyang get toothpaste on his race car toothbrush.

“I can work with you! I’m strong and I can protect you at work and we can get more money!”

He tries really hard not to start laughing all the while his brain is scrambling cause how is he supposed to explain to Yangyang that he has to go to school. He waits until after they brush their teeth and he brushes his pup’s hair. His baby hops off the sink counter, helping him take their things from the bathroom to put them away in his bag.

“What do you think, momma?” He asks, standing off to the side, watching him tuck their pajamas away into his bag.

“I think you’re too young to start working.”

Yangyang frowns, “But we’ll get more money and so we can spend more time together and go on more playdates with Mark and Taeyong and Ducky.”

“Baby,” he sighs. “People can’t hire kids below the age of 14. It’s against the law. You wanna know what else is against the law?”

“What?”

“Not going to school.”

Yangyang gapes and crosses his arms over his chest, “Well, the law is _stupid!_ ”

“Stupid or not, we still have to respect it and follow it.”

“No!” Yangyang harrumphs and glares down at his socked feet.

“Yangyang—”

“No.” He stamps his little foot.

Ten has half the mind to turn him onto his knee and spank him, but then again, _his_ parents spanked him lots of times and he still turned out as rebellious as he could be. He takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.

“Baby Yangyang, what’s wrong? I don’t understand why you’re upset.”

Yangyang glares up at him, “You wanna get rid of me!”

“No, baby, I don’t want to get rid of you. Why do you think that?”

“Cause you want me to go to school and I don’t wanna go to school.”

“Why don’t you wanna go to school?”

Yangyang stutters and glares back down at the floor. He shrugs. And then Ten isn’t sure what to say so he stands and grabs Yangyang’s backpack, offering it to him. “Well, when you figure out why you don’t wanna go to school, let me know, ok? I want to understand you and I want you to understand me and we can’t understand each other if we say ‘no’ all the time and throw tantrums like little babies.” Yangyang doesn’t look at him as he slips his arms into the straps of his backpack.

“Come on,” he holds out his hand and his baby takes it, though he still isn’t meeting his eyes. He sighs softly and walks out of the room, his bag on his shoulder as he leads his pup out to the kitchen. He mumbles good mornings to everyone despite his sour mood and Ten would be overjoyed about it if he weren’t panicking on the inside. 

Yangyang’s always been a little more reasonable, always wanting to please him by siding with him on matters, not to say that he hasn’t thrown tantrums before, but he was easily placated those few times. Now he’s bigger and any reason he comes up with will be smarter, or at least it’ll make perfect sense in his mind, and Ten doesn’t want to slight him by saying the wrong thing or give him a reason at so early an age to not trust him completely. He can feel grey hairs growing out just thinking about what to do.

They eat the breakfast Kun and Yuta made, pancake tacos with scrambled eggs and bacon as filling. Kun has them sit at the island as Yuta pours out glasses of milk and orange juice. Ten is surprised to find a plate for him along with the kids, “Aren’t you two gonna eat?”

“We already did,” Kun smiles, packing away lunch boxes by the stove. “Take it easy, Ten. We’ve got time.”

Ten smiles a little and digs in, beside him Yangyang is already eating, sipping his milk and halfway through his plate. The sun keeps rising outside, greeting them through the little white drapes over the window by the sink. 

He hears little grunts to his right and glances to the side to see Chenle struggling to climb up onto the stool with a phone held tight in one of his hands. Ten grabs him as gentle as possible under his arms and hefts him up onto the seat till he’s sitting properly. The pup’s attention is glued to the phone, his nose nearly pressed to it.

“Lele, what do we say?” Yuta stands just across from them, leaning against the counter with his hands on the edge. Chenle mumbles a ‘thank you’ and keeps watching the phone in one hand while the other blindly reaches for the food on his plate. Yuta shakes his head and smiles apologetically at Ten. “He gets lost in his own world sometimes.”

Ten smiles, “He’s cute.”

“Yes, he is… as cute as his mother—” Yuta grins when Kun narrows his eyes at him from where he’s still preparing little lunchboxes, writing on the sticky notes attached to them—“He throws a tantrum without his morning video, right, Lele?”

Chenle kicks his feet, swinging them as he glances up at his father, the brightest smile on his face as he nods.

“Whatcha’ watchin’, baby?” Ten asks.

Chenle glances up at him and only then seems to realize he’s sitting next to a virtual stranger. His eyes go all wide and his cheeks flush pink; nonetheless, he smiles and holds the phone up, screen directed at him. “Date video!” 

He turns the screen away before Ten can really make out what it is and sets the phone on the counter, propping it up against his glass of milk. “Watch!” He leans into him and Ten smiles, hugging him to his side as he leans down to watch the screen with him.

The video shows a field of green on a bright sunny day. It sweeps over the field, the grass waving in the wind, a sandy shore comes into view. A brown beach with dark blue waves, rushing up and twinkling in the sun. The camera keeps moving and Kun comes into view, his back to the camera, staring off into the distance, standing at the edge of the receding waters. His hair is dyed a really light blond, tussled in the wind, and he’s wearing a big brown coat.

Chenle reaches to turn the volume up on the phone and then Ten can hear the ocean waves clear and the camera being adjusted in the hands of whoever’s carrying it. It zooms in on Kun’s smiling side profile and then Kun turns towards the camera, his smile spreading into a grin. His features are a little plumper, a little younger, like when he was in high school.

“Yu, what are you doing?”

Yuta’s voice comes from behind the camera, “Capturing the view. It’s gorgeous.”

Kun shakes his head, smiling exasperatedly as the camera zooms out, revealing his rounded belly beneath a light beige hoodie. He holds out a hand with a cutesy smile and Yuta comes closer. 

The clip cuts to a different one, this one showcases the couple side by side, running in place, round and round. The tall grass spinning in the background behind them, grinning and laughing. Kun’s holding the camera this time and they slow their spin as Yuta lets go to raise his arms high over his head and yell, falling onto his back, “ _I LOVE YOU, QIAN KUN!_ ”

Kun laughs, turning the camera to Yuta laying on the ground, white shirt as wrinkled as his black slacks. His long, blond hair splayed out on the trampled grass as he grins up at Kun, behind the camera, and winks. “You’re crazy, Nakamoto Yuta,” Kun mumbles fondly.

“Crazy about you, baby,” Yuta smirks and the clip cuts again. The camera is propped on the ground, Yuta and Kun sit a few feet away in a candid shot, facing each other. The sun is setting behind them somewhere, but there’s enough light for their features to be made out. Yuta takes Kun’s hands, leaning down to kiss them and Kun smiles so wide, leading his hands to his pup bump. Yuta scoots closer, leaving no space between them as he nuzzles up against Kun, throwing his arms around him and hugging him. The video ends.

“That was back when I was pregnant with Sicheng,” Kun murmurs, startling Ten. He was so enraptured by the pretty colors of the video and the clearly young couple, he didn’t notice Kun come closer.

“But you both looked so young.”

“We were. I was 16 when I had him. Yuta was 17.”

Ten’s jaw damn near falls off and hits the table, “W-What? You’re kidding, right? You were kids!”

Yuta chuckles, taking his phone back from Chenle as he slides off the stool, all finished with his breakfast. “Yeah. My pull-out game was not so good back in the day.”

Yangyang tugs on Ten’s coat, glancing between him and Yuta, “Momma, what’s a pull-out game?”

Kun spits out his coffee into the sink as Yuta realizes his mistake and starts rounding his pups up, herding them towards the door.

“I wanna play it,” Yangyang tugs on his sleeve again, “please, momma.”

“No, you don’t.” Ten clears his throat to get his cheeks to stop burning. He will do many things for Yangyang, but explain what pulling out is is something that will have to wait till he’s older… much older. Yangyang pouts and goes back to sulking, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ten shakes his head and stands, helping Kun take the plates over to the sink. “Sorry,” Kun murmurs. “Sometimes that man has no filter.”

“It’s fine… So you and Yuta…”

“We were dating back then and we just got carried away one time… Yuta’s a good alpha. He could’ve left me when I found out I was pregnant, but he stayed and proposed and he asked for my father’s approval as soon as he could.”

“How come I never heard of this? I’m pretty sure I would’ve remembered you and him being together or even seeing you with your pup bump.”

“Yeah, well, I hadn’t told anyone who the father was yet, not until after I had Sicheng, and then who was gonna talk smack about the mate of the soccer team’s captain?”

“I would’ve whupped anyone who said shi— talked crap about my Kunnie,” Yuta comes back into the kitchen. “You taking the kids, my love?” Kun nods, closing the dishwasher once he’s set all the plates in. “Ok, I’m gonna go.”

“Ok.” Yuta rounds the island to hug Kun and give him a quick peck. Kun smiles, patting his back. “Bye.”

“Bye, Ten. Bye, Yangyang. It was nice to meet you both. I hope we can see each other again soon,” Yuta grins, waving goodbye as he walks out.

“Us too. Bye,” Ten smiles and waves along with Yangyang.

Instead of taking Kun’s little car, they end up taking the SUV. Sicheng, Renjun, Chenle are all strapped into their car seats in the back row, Yangyang rides on Ten’s lap in the passenger seat. Kun chats with his pups on the way in Mandarin, but they speak it so fast that even Ten has trouble following along with the conversation. Yangyang just stares up at Kun in admiration and bewilderment. They get to witness the controlled chaos that is dropping off children at school.

Sicheng gets out of his car seat easy and then helps Renjun with his straps. The pups lean up over the center console to give their mother a kiss on the cheek.

“Bye, Mama.”

“Bye, Mama!”

Kun turns in his seat to kiss their foreheads and cheeks, “Bye, babies. I love you, Sichengie. I love you, Junie.”

“We love you too.” Sicheng glances at Ten and Yangyang and smiles, “Bye.”

Renjun waves, “Bye! See you later, Yangyang!”

Yangyang smiles a little and waves goodbye. The kids hop off out of the van and disappear into the organized bustle of the school. The attendant at the curb slides the door closed for them and then they’re on their way. Kun wasn’t lying about it being a private school, it looks very nice and expensive. Red brick buildings and black metal gates.

“Mama, radio, please,” Chenle says from the back, raising his voice a little higher than necessary, but Kun smiles fondly and turns up the volume anyway. 

There was classical playing in the other car, but this one has the radio set to a classic rock station. He thinks he may have stared in bewilderment at the radio for a lot longer than necessary, but maybe what was more bewildering was the fact that Chenle knew most of the words to the songs playing, happily singing along.

“He gets it from Yuta,” Kun murmurs, shaking his head as they arrive at Johnny and Taeil’s daycare. They get their pups into the building and Kun takes the time to greet the couple running the show, introducing himself as Yuta’s mate.

Ten helps Yangyang get his backpack and jacket off. He’s been silent since earlier, and he crouches in front of him. “Baby.”

Yangyang bites the inside of his cheeks, looking down. “Mm?”

“You know I love you, right?”

“Mhm.”

“So you know I would never let anything bad happen to you, right?”

“But you want me to go to school,” he meets his gaze, a half-glare on his features.

“Because it’s important, baby.”

“No, it’s not.” Yangyang turns around and marches off into the living room, plopping himself down on the floor with his arms crossed. The perfect picture of petulance.

“Ten.”

Donghyuck is standing nearby, still dressed in his pajamas and little nose red and stuffy.

“Hey, baby. You sick?”

Donghyuck nods and sniffles, “What’s wrong with Yangie?”

“He’s a little upset,” Ten sighs.

Donghyuck glances over at Yangyang and then back at him, “Did he pee the bed?”

Ten smiles, “No. He doesn’t wanna go to school. He’s supposed to be in school like you.”

Donghyuck rubs his nose clean with the sleeve of his pajama shirt and smiles, puffing out his chest, “I bet I can get him to go. Can I try, Ten?”

He doubts he’ll be able to convince him, but he’s got nothing to lose. “Go ahead, Ducky.”

The little omega pup pets a hand over his thick scruff of hair, fixing the curly ends off his face, before placing his hands on his hips and marching over to Yangyang. The little beta pup looks up at him surprised and some of the anger seems to dissipate as Donghyuck talks to him. He can’t hear what he’s saying, but it looks like Hyuck is reprimanding Yangyang, waggling a finger at him and everything. Yangyang frowns and says something back and then Donghyuck smiles all big and leans down, kissing him on the cheek. Yangyang blushes different shades of red and pink and stands, brushing off his pants and giving Hyuck a hug.

Donghyuck grins victoriously and takes Yangyang’s hand, leading him over to Ten. “See, I told you I could do it!”

Ten blinks in surprise and smiles, “Excuse me, what?”

“Yup! Tell him, Yangie!”

Yangyang lets go of Donghyuck to step forward into Ten’s arms, pressing his face to his shoulder. “I’ll go to school for you, momma,” he whispers.

Ten grins and hugs him tight, “I promise you’ll be ok, baby.”

“I know,” Yangyang murmurs, hugging back.

Ten presses a kiss to the top of his head and smiles at Donghyuck, “Thank you so much, Hyuckie.”

Donghyuck smiles smugly. Johnny approaches them, picking up his pup. “Hey, I think your ride is waiting for you, Ten.”

Ten smiles up at him and turns back to Yangyang, cupping his face in his hands, “I love you, baby Yangyang.”

“I love you too, momma,” Yangyang smiles.

Ten grins and kisses him before standing. Johnny holds Donghyuck up with one arm. He leans up and presses a kiss to the omega pup’s cheek. “John, give this baby some candy or something. He deserves it.”

Johnny quirks a brow and glances at his son, “What? What’d you do?”

“Nothing,” Donghyuck giggles.

Ten smiles and waves, “Bye y’all—” he steps out and gets into Kun’s car—“Sorry.”

“It’s ok. All good?”

“Yes.”

Kun starts down the road, towards work. There’s a small smile on his face, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. The sun keeps rising, somewhere behind all the buildings. For some reason, the bleak greys and browns seem more blue and purple today. More rays of gold fall along their path, shining and warming what they touch.

“I still can’t believe you were pregnant at 16,” Ten murmurs.

Kun chuckles, “Yeah. Sicheng turns 8 in November and I’m 24. It wasn’t as tough as it should’ve been. I got really lucky.”

“How’d you do it?” Ten glances at him. “I mean, you and Yuta are so happy together, and your pups are happy too. Luck doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

Kun hums and smiles. “Mhm. I guess the more appropriate term would be blessed. We were blessed. Yuta’s mother and my parents would take turns watching him for us. We thought about dropping out a couple of times, moving between his mother’s apartment and my parent’s house, but they didn’t let us give up. It was tough but we had their support. We officially mated in our last year of high school and I graduated early so I could have Renjun.”

Ten looks back towards the road, “So _that’s_ why you disappeared.”

“Yup,” Kun chuckles. “I still got to do the valedictorian speech and all, but I was done with school. What about you? Yangyang is Renjun’s age, right?”

Ten sighs, “Yeah. I only found out I was pregnant once we had graduated.” He feels bitter about it, hates how stupid he was for believing all the false ‘I love you’s.

Kun glances at him and then back at the street, pulling up to the Neo Inn. “We’re here, Ten.”

But Kun and Yuta… Johnny and Taeil… they give him hope.

He grins as he steps out of the car. They walk side by side up to the building. “What?”

“I still can’t believe you were a bigger slut than I was,” Ten cackles.

Kun barks out a laugh and hooks an arm over his shoulders, “What?! You wanna get fired?!”

~~~

He doesn’t have to beg much for Kun to give him Yangyang’s birthday off. He spends the day prettying up his new apartment, getting all the food ready, buying Yangyang’s presents, and all while his baby is at school. He managed to work out an agreement with the same school Donghyuck and Mark attend, and Yangyang was able to join his same-age peers so long as he did a little extra work at home to catch up with them.

He puts up streamers and a happy birthday banner in the living room, hides two of Yangyang’s presents in his new room, and makes sure he didn’t forget a thing as he leaves the apartment to pick his baby up from school. Usually, Yangyang would head to the daycare, picked up by Taeil or Johnny, but today is a special day after all.

“Momma!” Yangyang hurries to pick up his backpack, noticing him by the open door of his classroom.

Ten smiles, signing off on the clipboard the teacher has set up. The school stinks of cleaning products and play dough and pup snacks. “Hi, baby!” He crouches as Yangyang runs up to him, picking him up and hugging him. Yangyang grins, nuzzling their faces together.

“How was your day, baby?” He asks as they walk out of the school. “Did you have fun?”

“Mhm! My teacher and the nice cafeteria lady gave me a dollar!” Yangyang pulls on his shirt to show off the five dollars pinned to his chest.

“Oh really, baby? Did you thank them?” Ten grins, squeezing Yangyang’s hand.

“Yeah! We did family poor-taits today.”

“Portraits?”

“Yeah, that!”

“That sounds so cool, baby.”

“Mhm.”

And then Yangyang grows quiet when they’re riding the bus. Ten chalks it up to him being tired from school, but the silence persists even when they get home, when he tries showing him all the spiderman-themed things he got for his birthday party.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Ten sits with him on the couch, wrapping an arm around him. “Did you want different stuff? We can still go to the store if you do.”

Yangyang shakes his head no and pouts up at him, lip wobbling, eyes all glassy and watery. “I’m sorry, momma—” he sniffles and the tears start spilling—“I’m sowwy.”

Ten quirks a brow and hugs Yangyang onto his lap, pressing his little face to his chest, “What? Hey, hey, what’s wrong, baby? Why are you saying sorry?” He strokes the back of his head and leans down to press kisses to the top of his scruffy hair.

“I-I lied,” Yangyang sobs, pink in the face from crying so hard.

Ten coos and wipes his snot away with the sleeve of his sweater, “What’d you lie about, baby?”

“When we was doin’ the poor-taits, the other kids asked me where my daddy was and why I don’t have a daddy.”

Ten fails to hide a grimace, but luckily his baby doesn’t see it, too busy trying to mold himself to his chest.

“S-So I said t-that T-Taeyong was my daddy… I’m s-sorry, momma. Please don’t be mad at me.”

It takes Ten a few seconds to recuperate from the screeching halt his brain comes to, crashing many times in the process. Then he slowly realizes Yangyang is still very much crying and blubbering apologies.

“I’m not mad at you, baby.”

Yangyang looks up at him, hands gripping his sweater tight, “B-But I lied.”

“I know, and that was wrong, but I’m not mad at you, baby—” he strokes his hands over his baby’s cheeks, soothingly, and smiles when he leans into his palms, nuzzling and sniffling—“But you do know Taeyong isn’t your daddy, right?”

Yangyang sniffles louder and nods, balling a fist into one of his eyes, wiping his tears and nuzzling into his mother’s hand at the same time. “I’m sowwy, momma…”

“I forgive you, baby. Just don’t do it again, ok?” Ten doesn’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if Yangyang had confessed to Johnny or Taeil. They’d never stop teasing him. He doesn’t even want to think of what Taeyong’s reaction would’ve been…

He probably would’ve laughed it off with that adorable high-pitched laugh of his and turned pink like mochi.

“Momma, you’re red,” Yangyang sniffles.

Sometimes Ten wishes his mind would shut up and not speak, the wall is looking real attractive right now. Caving his head in seems like the appropriate solution to whatever his mind just formulated about _that_ alpha.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, baby.”

Yangyang hums and curls up on his lap, leaning his head against his shoulder. “Momma.”

“Hm?”

“Who’s my daddy? W-Where is he? H-He should be here with us, right?”

Ten inhales and exhales slowly, wrapping his arms around his baby. “Your daddy… was a smart alpha and he promised to love us and protect us forever and ever… but he was in an accident when you were a tiny baby.”

“He broke his promise?”

Ten grits his teeth and tries really really hard not to get angry and bash that stupid alpha. He may have been the cause of much pain to him, but he’s still the alpha that helped him make Yangyang in the first place.

“Yes, he did… but he didn’t mean to… He was very excited when you were born, baby.”

Yangyang nuzzles further into his shoulder and then glances up, meeting his eyes. “Did he love me?”

“Not as much as I do,” Ten smiles and kisses his forehead. Yangyang smiles slightly and leans up to bury his face in his neck. “There’s all kinds of families, baby. There’s families like Johnny and Mr. Taeil, and families like Mr. Kun and Yuta, and then there’s families like us.”

“Like Mark and Taeyong?”

“Yeah, baby. Some families it’s just the mommy and their babies, some families it’s just the daddy and their babies, and there’s nothing wrong with that, ok?”

Yangyang nods and Ten turns him on his lap till they’re facing each other.

“Are you happy, baby?”

Yangyang smiles shyly and nods.

“I’m happy too, and if we’re both happy, that’s a good thing, right?”

“Right.”

Ten smiles and nuzzles their noses together, “Come on, I wanna show you something.” He lets Yangyang slide off his lap and stands, grinning when his baby slips his little hand into his. He leads him towards his room and slowly lets the door swing open.

His little race car bed sits against the far wall by the window, letting afternoon sun in, the toys he’s accumulated over the years sit organized in two bins, and then his two presents sit in the corner on top of a little rug.

Yangyang’s mouth falls open and he looks up at his mother in disbelief. “T-Those are for me?”

Ten smiles so hard it hurts and nods, “All for you, baby Yangyang. No more hiding in the closet.”

Yangyang giggles giddily and runs over to the two giant plushies. A giant panda bear and a giant brown bear, so huge they’re leaning against the wall. So big that Ten had to make two trips to the store, taking one at a time. Yangyang giggles and giggles, hopping up onto them and nustling into their stomachs, getting his puppy scent all over them.

Ten smiles and lets Yangyang play with them for a while as he goes back to the rest of the apartment, setting up music on a little speaker he and Yangyang bought themselves as a housewarming gift. The hour comes for the party to begin. The Moon Suh family, the Nakamoto family, the Jung Kim family, and the Lee family all show up. 

He thinks about the conversation he had with Yangyang, even while he serves glasses of lemonade and tea, plates of pizza and nachos. The apartment is kind of small for all of them, but they’re all enjoying themselves, making new connections and Ten realizes: they’re his family just as much as Yangyang is. And the birthday party feels more like a family reunion.

Yangyang plays in the living room with Mark, Donghyuck, and Yukhei. The Nakamoto’s and the Jung Kim’s left a while ago with their sleepy puppies. Johnny helps Ten by the sink, drying the dishes as he washes them. Taeil and Taeyong sit on the island counter of the small kitchen, putting away the leftover pizza in ziploc bags.

“Ten, this is a really nice place,” Taeil says. “How’d you find it?”

“Saw it listed in a newspaper. It’s a little further out than the old place, but the neighborhood is nicer, and the landlords are kind,” he smiles over his shoulder, scrubbing a plate.

“We’re happy for you, Ten,” Johnny smiles, drying off the last plate he passed him.

“Thank you. Thank you both for—”

“We know,” Taeil smiles, setting the extra bag of food in the fridge. “Don’t worry about it.”

They lapse into silence. The little speaker is still somewhere playing music, a soulful tune. It takes a moment for them to realize that the sounds of their playing puppies have grown inaudible.

They leave the kitchen in search of them and find them puppy-piling in Yangyang’s room. Mark and Yukhei are sprawled out on one of the giant bears, the bigger alpha pup has an arm thrown over Mark’s waist, snoozing lightly. Yangyang and Donghyuck occupy the other bear, cuddled side by side, Hyuck’s mouth is loose around one of his thumbs, snoring softly. The parents coo and are quick to take their phones out and get their pictures.

Johnny and Taeil crouch to pick up their babies, cradling them, exchanging silent good-bye’s with Ten and Taeyong. Ten follows them to the door as Taeyong wakes Mark up.

“Thank you for coming and for the presents,” he murmurs, standing at the threshold. Taeil is carrying Donghyuck to their car, Johnny stands just outside the door, carrying the still-sleeping Yukhei.

“Yeah, Ten. We wouldn’t have missed Yangie’s birthday for the world, and the debut of your new hairstyle.”

Ten grins. He’d cut it short and left some blond strands in it. The sun is setting somewhere, plunging the city into night. The street lamps come on along the street.

Johnny leans down to press a kiss to his forehead, “We’re so proud of you, Ten-Ten.”

Ten smiles wide, “Thank you.”

Yukhei shifts in Johnny’s arms, throwing his arms around his neck. Johnny smiles, shifting him up higher, “You want me to stay till you-know-who leaves?”

“No, it’s ok,” Ten shakes his head no. “You need to get your babies home.”

Johnny smiles, quirking a brow, “Ok, goodnight, Ten.”

“Goodnight,” he watches him go and waits for him to get into his car before closing the door. As he’s turning around, Taeyong comes from down the hall of the rooms, Mark and Yangyang trail behind him, chattering like they weren’t just sleeping a few moments ago.

“I didn’t give them any candy or anything,” Taeyong says when he notices his expression.

“It’s ok. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Do you work?”

“Not till the afternoon.”

“Same here,” Ten smiles, plopping down on the couch. Taeyong sits down too, leaving space between them. Yangyang notices and takes that as a sign to play longer with Mark, leading him over to where his new toys sit by the tv.

He sighs and rests his head on the back of the couch, “Hosting parties is a lot more tiring than I remember.”

Taeyong chuckles, “Yeah, you look about ready to shut down.”

“I just need a minute,” Ten smiles.

“You did a good job. Yangyang looks happy,” Taeyong murmurs. Their pups are playing with blocks and action figures, in their own little world.

“They both do.” Ten glances at Taeyong and then he figures he must really be tired because he scoots a little closer, close enough to pick up his scent if he inhales deeply. “You said his mother isn’t in the picture anymore?”

“Yeah… We were young and we weren’t ready to be parents. The pregnancy scared him. It scared me too, but… I didn’t want our child to be aborted, no matter how small he was. We worked out a deal. I would get to have Mark and he would walk away from us. A clean break.”

“I’m sorry. That must’ve been tough on you two.”

“I guess. I got it easy. I wasn’t the one carrying a growing baby—” Ten hums in agreement and Taeyong turns on the couch to face him—“What about you?”

“I was young and stupid and in love,” Ten smiles, though bitterly. “I got pregnant and we promised to mate before I gave birth and then we never did. His parents didn’t like me so we moved out to our own place. I didn’t work back then, just relied on him for everything and kept waiting for an opportunity to mate, but he… committed suicide when Yangyang was 1 year old and that was that. I didn’t get any money from him or anything. It’s just been me and my baby since then.”

Taeyong frowns, nearly grimaces, “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine…”

“Yeah, but we’re ok and we’re gonna keep being ok.” Ten smiles, he knows that for a fact. “Tell me about you. Your mother, father?”

“My parents are somewhere, don’t know where. They didn’t think it was a good idea for me to keep Mark. I guess they thought I was just fantasizing and wouldn’t act upon it. But then they realized I was serious and—” Taeyong shrugs and smiles—“They don’t like the effeminate alpha they had as a son. I don’t want them to know Mark anyway, they’re not… the best people. What about you?”

Ten chuckles, “Parents didn’t want a slutty omega of a son around and cut me off, so I guess that’s another thing we have in common.” He turns in his seat to face Taeyong too and gestures for him to continue.

Taeyong glances at their pups and returns his gaze to him. “Well, I have an older sister, but she lives out of the country. Uh, like my job, like to read, and I love my son more than anything.”

“What do you like reading?”

Taeyong smiles and looks away, “Poetry.”

Ten arches a brow as if to say ‘really’, but smiles nonetheless, “Ok. So you seem like a good person, good father, a notably smart alpha, and no omega’s cuffed you yet?” Taeyong blushes pink and laughs. Ten grins, looking him up and down. “So what’s the real problem?”

“I guess I’m a little too… non-traditional,” Taeyong shrugs.

“Non-traditional? So ‘knothead’ isn’t a word someone would use to describe you, huh?”

Taeyong chuckles, “Yeah, I guess not. I try not to be like my peers… Omegas have it tough. You’re so strong, stronger and tougher than alphas. I wish more people realized that.”

Yangyang comes running up to them then with Mark in tow, jumping up onto the couch between them. He’s panting and giggling and smiling wide as he climbs into his mother’s lap. “Momma! Momma!”

Ten smiles, giggling along with him, “Yeah, baby? What’s the matter?”

“Teach—” Yangyang takes a moment to catch his breath, patting one of his hands against his shoulder the whole time—“Teach him the McDonald’s song!”

“The McDonald’s song?”

“Yes! Please!”

Ten smiles and clears his throat, meeting Mark’s shiny little eyes, smiling as he sits on his father’s lap. He snaps his fingers as he sings.

“MmmmmmmcccccDonald’s is my kind of place. They feed you rattlesnakes—” Mark gapes and Yangyang giggles—“French fries up your nose, hamburgers between your toes.” Ten can’t keep a chuckle out of his voice at their expressions, “The last time that I visited there, they stole my underwear. McDonald’s is my kind of plaaaaaceeee!”

By the end of the little song, they’re all laughing and rocking back and forth on the couch. Mark’s giggles turn into a yawn and Taeyong grins, “Guess that means it’s time to go.” He stands, setting his pup down on his feet.

Ten waits for Yangyang to slide off his lap before standing too, “Thank you for coming. It wouldn’t have been the same without you both.”

Taeyong smiles, “Thank you for inviting us.” He helps Mark put his shoes on at the door and then as their pups are exchanging goodbyes, he stands. “Look, I know you said no before, and I guess I’m a bit of a fool for asking again, but would you like to go out with me sometime?”

Ten smiles, surprised to find he’s more endeared than annoyed now, “I— Taeyong, when would we find the time? We both work and look after our pups.”

“Johnny and Taeilie wouldn’t mind watching them for us. We could go somewhere after work. I know this nice diner. It’s a cool little spot.”

“You are—” Ten snorts and chuckles.

Taeyong smiles, hopeful, “So?”

“Ok. I’ll let them know and set up a day—” he smiles and glances down at where Mark is swaying where he stands, squinting sleepily—“You should go before Mark falls asleep on the floor.”

Taeyong smiles and picks Mark up, letting him hug onto his shoulder. “Goodnight, Yangyang. Goodnight, Ten.”

“Goodnight!” Yangyang smiles up at the Lee’s, waving goodbye.

“Bye-bye.” Ten watches them leave, waits until they’re in their car and driving away to close the door. He sighs and glances down at Yangyang, “Well? Did you like your party?”

“Mhm! Thank you, momma,” Yangyang smiles and hugs onto one of his legs.

“Anything for you, baby.”

Yangyang purrs softly, “I love you, momma.”

“I love you too—” Ten smiles and pets a hand through his baby’s hair—“Come on, shower time.”

~~~

“What you prettyin’ yourself up for? You got a date or somethin’?”

Ten glances through his compact mirror at Doyoung, tousling a small towel through his hair behind him. They spent the whole day in the towel room and had to shower and change as soon as their shift was done. He returns his attention to his mirror, reinserting his earrings.

“Maybe.”

Doyoung smirks and puts the towel away in his bag when he’s done, letting his hair hang in his eyes. “Who is it?”

“I’m not telling you.”

They close their lockers when they’re done and walk out of the hotel. “I bet it’s that alpha from the party.”

Ten quirks a brow at him as they stand beside the building, waiting for their rides. The sun is descending, nearing the horizon, bathing them in gold and orange.

“How do you know?”

“He kept making heart eyes at you.”

“Yeah, right,” Ten scoffs.

Doyoung grabs one of his shoulders and squeezes lightly, “Ten, I don’t know what happened between you and Yangyang’s father, but don’t let that control you. No one should be alone, especially someone as strong as you.”

“Who are you and what have you done to Doyoung?”

The tall omega smiles and chuckles, “Let me be nice to you, alright?”

“Thank you, bunny,” Ten smiles, leaning his head on Doyoung’s shoulder.

Doyoung hugs him from the side and lets go when a truck pulls into the lot, a familiar alpha behind the wheel. “Here he is. Watch this.”

“Oh my god, don’t do _anything_ , I swear— Taeyong, hi!”

The alpha comes up to them, dressed down for the evening, and smiles politely, “Hi.”

Doyoung waves, “We’ve met before.”

“Yeah, at the party, I remember. I didn’t know you worked here too,” Taeyong smiles.

“Yup, this is _the_ place.” Doyoung grins and Ten doesn’t wait for him to do something embarrassing.

“You ready?”

Taeyong nods and holds out a hand. Ten takes it and lets himself be led over to the truck. It’s not till they’re about to get in that Doyoung starts hollering.

“Be careful, he’s fertile!”

Ten glares over at him as Taeyong gapes and then chuckles, caught off-guard and stupefied.

“Means he gets pregnant easy!”

Ten gestures for Doyoung to shut up with a glare and sinks into the passenger seat, shaking his head, “Just drive. He’s actually crazy.”

Taeyong chuckles, pulling out of the lot, “How was your day?”

“Fine. Yours?”

“It was ok. Slow day.”

“Yeah?” He glances at him with a small smile.

“Mhm. I was just counting down the hours… waiting to see you,” Taeyong smiles, his cheeks pink like mochi.

Ten tries really hard not to smile like a fool and fails.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah, I don't know why. For the first time in a while, I got really nervous uploading. Lol I guess cause a lot happens in this chapter.  
> Where I grew up, whenever it was a kid's birthday, their parents or guardians would send them to school with a few dollar bills pinned to their shirt. It was custom among us, and honestly, I never knew where it started until recently lol. If you were lucky, you'd come home with more dollars than you were sent with.  
> The McDonald's song is a real funny little parody of an 80s commercial. Here's [this](https://www.tiktok.com/@snacksandtea/video/6874677416158137606?_d=secCgsIARCbDRgBIAIoARI%2BCjzKP3peaFl2LM1jSjEmyl%2BC6FFc5hEBAgeV3mteFUFjxo2INGWNTas5ZFkEoVrQZY8Ym0IREV0dZ1m3nDUaAA%3D%3D&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAGgdnuazqDEWTXZIDBpDDCX4ey5OxGFz7i9hpl4X4CSaWvegzFOE5Ec9FObMrmVmL&share_item_id=6874677416158137606&share_link_id=B3857203-5CCA-44D0-93C2-ABB3CBD4FF67&timestamp=1603428826&tt_from=copy&u_code=dbj1e868il63k2&user_id=6811704250198066182&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy&source=h5_m) if you'd like to hear it :)  
> I hope y'all liked this one.  
> I hope you're all doing well, and staying safe and healthy! Let's keep doing what we can to make the world what we want it to be. Don't let anyone rob your future from you. It ain't where you come from, it's where you're going. It ain't what people say about you, it's what you respond to. Remember that for me, ok?  
> Love y'all! :)


	6. Chapter 6

The truck cruises along bustling roads, the windows slightly parted, breathing the cool night air in. The streetlights flicker on along the lane as the sun continues its descent. They slow to a stop at a red light. Taeyong removes his eyes from the road once only to offer his phone to Ten, who takes it with a quirked brow.

“It’ll be Mark and Yangyang’s bedtime soon,” the alpha explains as the light turns green again, continuing on their way.

Ten smiles, “Good idea.”

“Zero eight zero two,” Taeyong says.

Ten types in the passcode and pulls up the dial screen. “Any significance to those numbers?”

Taeyong smiles, fondness blooming in his irises, eyes shiny from the lights they pass up. “My baby’s birthday.”

“Mm. As expected of a sweet father like you.” 

Ten sets the phone on speaker, holding it over the center console as the dial tone drones. He doesn’t notice the way Taeyong blushes like a child.

“Hello?” Taeil answers.

“Hi, Ilie.”

“Yongie? Everything ok? Don’t tell me your date is already over?”

“Not yet,” Taeyong chuckles.

Ten shakes his head, “I’m here too, you know.”

“Oh, Ten! What a surprise!” Though Taeil doesn’t sound surprised at all, more sarcastic than anything. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?”

“We just wanted to say goodnight to our puppies.”

“Well, you called right on time. Johnny’s upstairs getting them into their pajamas—” Taeil leans away from the phone—“Hyuckie baby, tell your Daddy to get Mark and Yangie down here.”

“Yes, Mama! _DADDY! MAMA SAYS TO BRING MARKIE AND YANGIE!"_ Donghyuck screeches in the background.

Taeil sighs into the receiver, “This boy… I swear I’m gonna be deaf before he turns 12.” Ten and Taeyong smile, amusement riddled in their eyes. “They’re coming, just wait a sec…”

“What happened?” They hear Johnny in the background.

“They wanna talk with their babies.”

Ten can see the couple exchanging a look as the line goes quiet for a moment. And after a second, Mark’s cute tiny voice comes through. “Hello?”

“Hi, baby.”

“Daddy!”

The smile that grows on Taeyong’s face at hearing his pup’s excitement rivals the sun and the moon and almost everything good in the world. Ten watches his expression for all the minute gestures and changes.

“Are you coming?”

“Not yet, baby. I might not be back before you go to bed.”

“Oh… Are you stuck at the office again?”

“No, baby. Remember what I told you about the other day?”

“The grown-up playdate?”

“Yes, baby. I’m having a grown-up playdate with Mr. Ten.”

“O… Oh!” They can hear the smile in Mark’s voice.

“Mhm, so I wanted to say goodnight before I do.”

“Ok, daddy. I hope you have fun.”

Taeyong smiles, “Thank you. I love you, Mark.”

“I love you too, daddy. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, baby,” Taeyong makes loud kissy noises until Mark giggles on the other end and relinquishes the phone to Yangyang.

“Hello? Momma?”

“Hi, baby,” Ten smiles wide.

“Are you on your date already?”

Ten blushes and smiles when he notices the expression of surprise on Taeyong’s face. “Almost.”

“Can I say ‘hi’ to him?” Yangyang asks, pleading tone in _full effect_.

“Go ahead, baby. He’s listening.” Ten holds the phone closer to the alpha.

“Hi, Yangyang!”

“Hi, Taeyong. I need to tell you something.” Yangyang adjusts the phone in his hands like he might’ve taken it out of Johnny or Taeil’s hold.

“What is it, pup?”

“It’s about my momma. He’s _my_ momma. I love him so much and I know you like him cause Mark tells me you do, so—” both the adults look at the phone in shock—“so! You need to be extra nice to my momma! I want him to be happy so if you make him cry, I won’t let you talk to my momma no more and I’ll whup you!”

Ten presses a hand over his mouth, grinning so hard his cheeks hurt. 

_Goddamit, don’t cry, Ten!_

Taeyong looks like he’s unsure what to say, mouth opening around nothing.

“Do you understand, Taeyong?” 

Ten wonders where his little 6-year-old learned to talk to adults like that. Not that he’s complaining.

“I understand, Yangyang,” Taeyong smiles and glances over at him very briefly before returning his gaze to the road. “I promise to be nice and try and make your momma happy.”

“You done, baby?” Ten asks, shaking his head in fond disbelief.

“Yes, momma!”

“Ok. I love you, baby. You be good, ok?”

“I love you too, momma. You be careful.”

“Always, baby.”

“Goodnight, momma. I love you. Bye!”

“Goodnight, I love you, baby. Bye-bye!”

Yangyang passes the phone and Taeil’s voice comes through, “All done?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, thank you, Ilie.”

“Ok, well, we’ll be here waiting. Have fun~!” Taeil chuckles on the other side of the line and promptly hangs up. Ten sets the phone down in the cupholders between them. Taeyong’s got a small smile on his face, driving calm. Like Yangyang didn’t just disrupt the whole professional atmosphere Ten was trying to keep.

This is a date, after all… _Don’t get nervous, Ten_ … 

_I’m not nervous_ … _It’s just been well over 6 years since I’ve been on a date, that’s all. A date ain’t nothing… right?_

It’s too quiet.

“Kids really are something, huh?” Ten smiles at him, hands clasped tight on his lap.

“Yeah. They are… a blessing.”

Ten chuckles softly, “That’s one way to put it, yes.” Taeyong smiles, follows just as soft. Nerves keep building under his skin, seeping into his veins, rerouting his actions so he’s flying on autopilot. 

The panicky Ten within only gets glimpses, stuck in his head. The diner. Yellow and old and grey, but chill somehow. Maybe cause of the wood paneling of the bar? Or the old tiled floor and white yellowed tables? The jukebox sitting on its own against one of the walls, churning out an old blues tune.

Ma Rainey… He remembers her from school. English teacher. He always tried introducing their class to all sorts of voices and art of people of color. People like him, like Ten.

_Oh God, what am I doing here? I’m supposed to be tucking my baby into bed._

He vaguely registers Taeyong helping him with his coat and his seat, pushing it in for him. A waiter comes by, gets them some menus, a laminated paper, two-sided. He vaguely registers ordering some water to drink. He really doesn’t know what Taeyong gets.

And then like a baby taking its first breath, everything snaps into his consciousness. Warm fingers on his wrist, where his perfectly ironed dress shirt is cuffed, bring him back to reality, out of his brain.

“Ten, are you alright?” The chatter of other patrons, silverware clatter, the jukebox playing another tune, something soulful this time round. “Ten?”

Warm dark brown eyes. Concerned dark brown eyes. Taeyong. He’s on a date with Taeyong. A date. That’s fine. He’s been on plenty of dates with Johnny and Taeil. But those were different, weren’t they?

A bell dings and Ten regains control of the nerves. Drawing his hand away from the alpha’s touch, he smiles, “I’m alright. I’m just a little nervous…”

Taeyong smiles, relief flooding through his posture. “I understand. I’m nervous too. I don’t think I’ve been on a date since high school,” he giggles.

“Same here—” he smiles slightly and glances down at the menu—“So what have we got?”

“Well, they’ve got pretty much everything. Burgers, salads, chicken. But their breakfast options are what they’re really known for.”

Ten arches a brow up at him, “Breakfast for dinner, really?”

“Yeah.” Taeyong grins. “Tell me. When’s the last time you sat down and had a proper breakfast without rushing?”

Ten snorts softly, “Months. Probably longer, if I really try and think about it.”

The waiter comes by with their drinks. Both of them ordered water, Ten notes, and tries real hard not to chuckle as their waiter takes their order and marches off.

Taeyong sips from his glass, eyes focused on nothing but the far distance before they notice his mirthful expression. “What’s the matter?”

“I see you’ve also learned the ways of the poor,” Ten murmurs around a chuckle, raising his glass of water to him.

Taeyong grins and snorts, “Every penny counts when you’ve got a little growing mouth to feed. Plus it’s healthier.”

“True. That’s true. How’d you find this place anyway?”

“Mark wanted to try a new place for his 5th birthday. I let him have his pick from a newspaper and here we are. The food’s really great, not too heavy on the wallet. We come here sometimes when we’ve got nothing to do, nowhere to be—” Taeyong smiles fondly down at his hands, rubbing one over the other absentmindedly—“He might be upset if he finds out I came without him.”

“Well, if you let me pay for some sodas, it’ll be our secret. What do you like? Coke?”

“Coke is good.”

Ten waves a waiter down, orders two glasses of Coke, and not long after, they’ve both got their splurge for the night. They both wince at the first sip of the fizzy carbonation and chuckle when they notice the other’s scrunched up face.

“You’d think we were drinking some hard liquor,” Taeyong giggles. The dimmed lighting of the diner looks good on him. The little yellow spotlight over their table, makes him look… handsome-er than usual.

Ten chuckles. “Right? I don’t ever buy soda.”

“Really?” Ten nods and Taeyong smiles, taking another sip, “I feel special then.”

They fall into comfortable silence. The diner around them also does, lapsing into a nice ambience. The jukebox plays a soft tune and then goes quiet as the song finishes.

“I’ve never seen one of those in real life before,” Ten gestures in its direction with a head nod.

Taeyong glances over and smiles, “Wanna pick a song? I’ve got a couple of quarters.”

“I don’t even know how to use a jukebox.”

“I do—” Taeyong stands, offers a hand to him—“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Ten takes it, fingers and palm slotting perfectly over Taeyong’s. It feels right. He follows him to the back, weaving through tables where the old machine sits. Songs are listed on little pieces of paper behind the glass. Taeyong digs in the pocket of his slacks for change.

“Any catch your attention?”

Ten looks over the long list and smiles when he sees a familiar one, “That one.”

Taeyong slides two quarters into a slot and then gestures at a small keypad beneath the glass. “Alright. Just type the song’s number on there—” Ten types it in—“And there we go.”

They watch as records flip past behind the lists of songs and then stops. A mechanical arm takes the selected vinyl and sets it on the turntable. The needle comes down, the record spins, soft guitar strums through the speakers along with Al Green’s soulful voice.

_“Love and happiness.”_

Ten smiles, glancing up at Taeyong as he nods approvingly. “See. It’s easy.”

They make their way back to their table. Taeyong once again pushes his chair in for him and Ten can’t help smiling once again like a fool, actually enjoying himself.

Their food is brought not long after. White round plates take up most of the space on their table. Piping hot eggs, ham, hash browns, buttered toast, grits, and waffles. They waste no time digging in. And Ten would be a huge liar if he said it wasn’t the best damn food he’s ever had.

“Do you like it?” Taeyong smiles.

Ten holds a hand up over his mouth, cheek bulging with toast and ham. “I’m actually gonna have you arrested for not telling me of this place sooner.”

Taeyong chuckles, “And the best part is we have dessert right here.” He points at their two waffles, circular and covering up the whole plate they sit on.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a waffle with pecan in it. Is it good?”

“Better than any waffle you’ll ever have, I’m telling you that right now.”

Ten smiles, “We’ll see about that.” He eats through most of his plate and then he really doesn’t think he’ll have any space for that giant waffle. Taeyong seems to be in the same predicament, setting his silverware aside. “Maybe if we rest a moment?”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Taeyong giggles and sighs, leaning back in his seat. “So, I’m curious about you… I mean I know you’re a really great parent, good person, but I don’t know much else.”

Ten sighs, shrugs with a small smile, “I mean I don’t think there’s much else to me. I’ve devoted my life to my son. I really don’t have time for anything else.”

“There’s gotta be something.”

“Well, I guess I could go on for hours about my job—” he crosses his arms, rolls his eyes—“Don’t get me started on that though.”

Taeyong quirks a brow, “I thought you liked your job.”

“It pays good enough, but I don’t particularly _like_ it.”

“How come?”

“My co-workers. It’s a bunch of other omegas like me, working themselves to the bone, trying to provide for their pups. Only most of them are mated. They’ve got alphas to help them support their families, you know?”

Taeyong nods, listening intently.

“They’ve got all that extra money to get their babies good stuff, you know, live comfortable enough. And then they go and waste those extra dollars on cigarettes or beer and then whine and wonder why they’re struggling to make ends meet. I understand people have to manage their stress somehow, but isn’t seeing your baby happy enough? It really makes me wonder if they actually love their pups or if they’re just _that_ self-centered.” Ten shakes his head, semi-scowl on his features.

“Woah.”

“Sorry. Was that too much?”

Taeyong shakes his head vigorously, “No. No, not at all. I… I understand. I like this side of you.”

“What? The nagging, excuse my french, bitch?” Ten arches a brow, humored.

“No. You’re very passionate about what you believe in. I like that.” Taeyong blushes and smiles shyly. “You speak your mind.”

“I have to. If I had all my thoughts locked up, I’d have gone insane by now.”

Taeyong giggles, leaning forward.

“I mean other than that—” Ten shrugs and then holds his hands out, palms up—“I have calluses that like giving me hell every other day.”

Taeyong reaches forward cautiously. When Ten doesn’t move away, he runs gentle fingertips over the little hardened patches of skin where his fingers meet his palm. The alpha winces slightly and squeezes his hands. “Are your hands always this cold?”

“Sometimes,” Ten can feel heat rising in his cheeks, turning his hands over so they sit in Taeyong’s. He smiles slightly, watching as Taeyong envelops and rubs his hands between his. He squeezes back once and draws them away before he gets to liking it too much. “What about you? You’re into poetry. That’s interesting. You got a favorite poet?”

“Maya Angelou. She’s very wise.”

“Favorite poem?”

Taeyong sucks in a breath between his teeth, “I don’t think I can pick. There’s too many.”

“How long you been into that?” Ten leans his chin on his palm.

“Since I was in school,” Taeyong shrugs and smiles.

“Have you tried writing your own?”

“A few times. I’m not that good at it.”

“Yeah right. I bet you’re good. Tell me one right now.” Ten perks up in his seat.

“What about?”

“Whatever comes to your mind.”

Taeyong makes a face down at the table and smiles, “This is gonna be terrible.”

“No, come on. One for me.”

Taeyong blushes, “Roses are red… violets are blue… when I go to sleep at night… I can’t stop thinking about you.” He buries his face in his hands and shakes his head. “I’m sorry. That was—”

Ten grins, reaching to grab his wrist. “Yeah, that was pretty cheesy.”

“It was cringey,” Taeyong chuckles, letting Ten take hold of his hand.

“That too, but it was kind of cute,” Ten smiles encouragingly. _You’re kind of cute_. He shakes his head as soon as the thought enters his mind. Taeyong meets his eyes, happiness residing in them. Did he cause that? 

The jukebox has decided to play a really romantic type of song, crooning of love and forever, and Ten lets go of Taeyong, folding his hands neatly on his lap to keep them from wandering across the table again.

It’s easy to talk to Taeyong. They share in a special understanding that comes with raising a pup on their own. Besides that, he’s also very understanding and open and honest, and unexpectedly goofy, overreactions galore. He’s safe, and it excites and scares Ten in equal parts.

“I don’t think I can eat another bite,” Taeyong murmurs when the check is brought, dutifully taking bills out of his wallet.

“Well, our babies are gonna have a sweet surprise tomorrow then,” Ten smiles, moving their waffles into takeout boxes.

They leave the diner behind, nearing midnight. Cruising along streets towards their friends’ home. “You used to do a lot when you were younger then.”

Ten shrugs, “I wouldn’t call it a lot.”

“Gymnastics, basketball, dance, art. That’s a lot. It’s impressive,” Taeyong smiles.

“It’s in the past. I’m just a mother now,” Ten smiles slightly and shrugs. “It doesn’t bother me though. Watching… Helping Yangyang grow, that’s my new hobby.”

Taeyong hums and smiles, “Yeah… Yeah, I get that.”

The truck rolls to a stop in front of Johnny and Taeil’s house but neither of them makes a move to get out. Taeyong turns off the ignition and glances at him. Ten frowns, wondering if he’ll be expecting something from him now. He’s an alpha after all.

“Ten—”

“After my… After Yangyang’s father left us, I swore to myself I wouldn’t be with anyone else, that I wouldn’t date or try to settle down… even if it was just for a night… not until my baby is grown… It’s just easier not to date…” Ten looks into his eyes, hoping he’ll continue to be understanding.

Taeyong frowns, searches his eyes in turn. “Is that what you think I wanted from you…? Sex?”

Ten smiles bitterly, “Let’s be honest. All alphas come for something.”

Taeyong looks like he wants to reach out and comfort, but he keeps his hands to himself, staring into Ten’s eyes resolutely. “My only interest is you… and your well-being and happiness, Ten.”

The earnest honesty and warmth in Taeyong’s eyes… shake Ten down to his very core. He smiles unsure of what to say. Part of him would like to believe his words, to give in and indulge the kind alpha. But a bigger part of him remembers the script from 6 years ago, the pain and heartbreak. He steps out of the truck, Taeyong follows.

They both linger on the front step, waiting for someone to answer. Ten smiles up at him, arms wrapped around himself, “I had fun tonight. Thank you, Taeyong.”

The alpha smiles, “So did I. Maybe we could do this again?”

“I’d like that,” Ten nods.

Johnny lets them in. Taeyong takes his sleeping Mark, Ten is far too tired and dazed to do anything but retire to the guest room, slipping into bed with his sleeping baby.

~~~

“Ducky made me this,” Yangyang holds up his hand, a simple bead bracelet in blue, red, and black sits snug around his wrist. Ten glances at it and returns his attention to his son’s socks, pulling them on snug. “He made it with Spider-Man colors for me.”

“That’s very thoughtful of him, baby.”

“Mhm! I made him one too. I made it with red and black beads cause those are his favorite colors,” Yangyang smiles, pulling on basketball shorts as his mother grabs a pair of sweatpants for him from his closet.

“Really, baby?”

“Mhm. I wanted to make Mark and Yukhei one too, but Ms. Brazil said we only have an hour to make bracelets.”

Ten kneels at his son’s feet, holding the sweatpants low. Yangyang puts one foot in and then the other, smiling as his mother pulls them up. “They fit perfect. Can you do the rest, baby?” Ten smiles as Yangyang nods and hurries over to his bed, grabbing his sweater. “Ms. Brazil sounds nice.”

“She is!” Yangyang pulls the sweater over his head and gets stuck for a moment before he finds the sleeves and head hole. His hair sticks up with static when he finally gets it on. “She teaches us so much! Like how the sun is a really really big star! And the earth takes a year to go around!”

“A whole year?” Ten gasps, walking out of the room. Yangyang follows right behind him into the living room.

“Yeah! That’s why we have different seasons.”

“Wow. You really know a lot about our planet. Hold your sleeves, baby.”

Yangyang smiles, holding onto the ends of his sleeves as his mother helps him pull his puffy jacket on. “I wanna be an astronaut when I grow up!”

Ten grins. “You can. So long as you send me pictures from your spaceship—” he helps Yangyang’s little hands into gloves and pulls a beanie over his head—“I’d miss you a lot if you were up in space.”

“I’d miss you too, momma. I’d send you pictures and space rocks and space flowers!”

Ten smiles, “I can’t wait. So, think you can get your shoes on while I gear up too?”

“Ok, momma.”

Ten turns away to get his winter clothes on, coat, scarf, beanie, boots. It’s late November so it’s not _that_ cold yet, but Ten is a tropical climate baby and he can only stand the near-freezing temperatures for so long. Johnny and his family are fine with simple hoodies and scarves and he doesn’t care if they laugh every time they show up looking like a stuffed up pair of penguins.

“Momma, I can’t do the shoelaces with my gloves on,” Yangyang sits plopped with both his sneakers pulled on, the laces undone in miserable little impressions of knots.

Ten crouches and ties them, “It’s ok, baby. You tried. That’s what matters. How’s that? Too tight?”

Yangyang shakes his head no and struggles to stand in his big coat, like a baby deer walking for the first time. Ten pulls him to his feet and then helps him put his scarf on.

“There. Just don’t pull on it. Don’t wanna choke yourself, right?”

Yangyang giggles, “No, momma.”

“And the gloves—”

“I put them in my pockets when I don’t need them.”

“Yes and if something’s wrong—”

“I tell you right away.”

“That’s right, baby. You’re so smart.”

Yangyang watches from the door with a smile as his mother goes around, flipping off all the lights except for their lamp in the corner of the living room. He grabs his bag, slings it on, and winks down at him. It makes butterflies burst in his stomach. 

“Ready to go, my little prince?”

“Yes, momma.”

Ten holds onto Yangyang’s gloved hand, leading him out into the dark afternoon. The sun has been setting earlier and earlier, at nearly 4 pm. He locks the door to their apartment and walks with Yangyang to the bus stop just outside the complex.

A few other people walk the street. Groups of teens, old couples, other little family units. It isn’t as nice as the neighborhood Johnny resides in, but it’s better from the last. Ten wishes he’d found this place sooner. The old one had random, crazed-looking alphas walking the streets and middle of the night homicides. His mace came in very handy more times than he’d like to count.

They board the bus when it arrives and find seats towards the middle. Yangyang sits close to him, swinging his dangling feet. Ten holds his bag on his lap and keeps his other arm around his pup. “What else did Ms. Brazil teach y’all, baby?”

One of the fluorescent lights above flickers ever so slightly at random intervals. Yangyang hums and glances up at him. “We learned why omegas use honor-effects like Mr. Taeil and Mr. Kun.”

“Really, baby?”

“Mhm. She told us that when our world started there was a lot of wars and fights because people were confused and scared. And then one day a man named Thomas San-cara—”

“Thomas Sankara?”

“Yeah, him! He brought everyone together with his huge heart and smart actions. He said that omegas are the most important people in the world and that we should call them Mr. or Mrs. or Mx.”

“He did, baby?”

“Mhm! He was a beta like me!” Yangyang smiles proudly at that fact. “But then his best friend killed him… Do you think Ducky or Mark would do that to me?”

Ten chuckles, “I don’t think so, baby. They love you too much.”

Yangyang hums and takes to playing with his mother’s hand, splaying out his smaller one as far as he can. The tips of his fingers don’t even reach half of his mother’s fingers. Ten intertwines their fingers, warmth filling his chest when his baby beams up at him.

“I wanna be like him when I grow up—” Yangyang smiles and then frowns, nestling closer—“Momma, can I ask you something?”

“What’s up, baby?”

“Can you ask the school to get me different classmates?”

“Why, baby?”

“I don’t like the ones in my class.” Yangyang stops swinging his feet. “They’re mean.”

Ten hugs Yangyang closer, ready and willing to beat the parents of the demonic toddlers messing with his pup. “They’re mean to you?”

Yangyang shakes his head no, “The alphas are bossy and sometimes they’re really mean to some of the omegas… like my new friend.”

“Shotaro?”

“Mhm. He’s an omega and he’s really quiet. The alphas like making fun of him cause he’s shy and that no one will wanna be his mate—” Yangyang glares and throws out his hands—“But there’s nothing wrong with him! They’re dummies! The other omegas in our class don’t play with Shotaro either… That’s why he plays with me and Ducky.”

Ten frowns, “Does Ms. Brazil tell them anything?”

“Yeah, but they don’t listen to her.” Yangyang glances up at him. “But I don’t let them mess with Shotaro no more. I do like you, momma!”

“Really, baby?”

Yangyang nods vigorously and Ten smiles, leaning down to kiss his forehead. He would rain fire on the entirety of the earth if anyone so much as thought of messing with his baby. And, while he’s grateful Yangyang isn’t the brunt of any bullying, he’s also surprised. Sure, he knows children are just reflections of their parents and their parenting, but do pups really develop sub-gender biases so early on?

“I’m proud of you, Yangyang, for standing up for your friend… and you know the things alphas say about omegas aren’t true, right?”

“I know, momma. I know cause you’re an omega, but you’re super strong and tough and smart and you send all the alphas running!” Yangyang smiles, pulls his hand close with his two gloved ones wrapped around his wrist, and presses a little wet kiss to his knuckles. “I wanna be like you when I grow up, momma.”

“You’re gonna be way better than me, baby. It’s destiny,” Ten grins and slides off the seat with Yangyang. They sway as the bus slows and hop off before Yangyang’s school. They hurry through the cold to the gymnasium.

Upon entry, they’re asked for tickets and are waved through a metal detector. After that, they’re allowed into the gym. Burgundy bleachers sit on either side of the gym, surrounding a basketball court. A few twenty pups or so run around on it in organized little drills, dribbling basketballs as they’re coached by their gym teachers. The parents of said pups sit on the bleachers, either on their phones or talking amongst themselves.

Ten spots his friends at the other end of the gym and leads Yangyang along the side of the court as he watches the other pups practicing before the game. Johnny and Taeil smile when they see him, waving. Donghyuck sits between them and waves his arms over his head when his eyes land on Yangyang. “Hi, Yangie!”

“Hi, Ducky.” Yangyang smiles and jogs up to him, removing his gloves and tucking them in his pockets. He pulls back the sleeve of his jacket to show him the bracelet. “I’m wearing the bracelet you gave me.”

Donghyuck grins, pleased, and pulls back the sleeve of his sweater to show his off too. “Me too! We promised to always wear them, remember?”

Yangyang giggles, “Yeah! Why do you think I’m wearing it?”

Donghyuck giggles and scoots over, letting Yangyang sit next to him once he removes his puffy jacket and ties it around his waist.

Ten settles down next to Johnny, loosening his scarf. Johnny smiles, watching him, “Where did you go? Antarctica?”

“Where did _you_ go?” Ten looks pointedly at Johnny’s gold and purple clothes. “You look like Barney’s pimp grandfather.”

Johnny laughs aloud and swats his best friend’s shoulder, “I’m wearing my baby’s team colors!”

“Where is he anyway?” Ten glances at the court, searching for Yukhei.

Taeil points dead ahead, holding his phone up, probably recording and taking pictures, “There.”

Ten follows his finger and then wonders how he didn’t see him. Yukhei dribbles a basketball around little cones. He stands a good few inches taller than his teammates, chin held higher, wide puppy eyes excited.

“Well, he’s definitely your kid,” Ten mumbles. “Were you that tall when you were in second grade?”

Johnny smiles, “No. He gets it from Ilie.”

Ten snorts and chuckles as Taeil rolls his eyes with a small smile, “Yes. I, too, was towering over my classmates when I was like 7 years old.”

“See? What’d I tell you?” Johnny laughs, eyes creasing into his cheeks as he leans on Ten. Taeil smiles, pleased, returning his attention to the court. 

The buzzer sounds. Practice is over and it’s time for the game to begin. Yukhei runs up to them while the coach picks up their little drill cones and basketballs. “Hi, Ten! Hi, Yangyang!”

Yangyang smiles, giving the older pup a high five before he buries himself in Ten’s arms. Ten smiles and hugs Yukhei tight, “Ready for your first basketball game, baby?”

“Yeah! I think we’ll win!” Yukhei grins, nuzzling into Ten’s chest.

Ten purrs and presses a kiss to the top of his head, inhaling his spicy cinnamon candy scent. He didn’t get to meet his best friend’s pup until he was already two years old, and he remembers when he first smelled him. He turned to Johnny immediately and said, ‘Your baby smells like Hot Tamales.’ He remembers Taeil laughing his ass off, Johnny pouting at him indignantly, and little Yukhei smiling and giggling along with his mother even though he probably didn’t understand what was going on.

Yukhei lets go to hug his parents and then looks around, “Where’s Mark?”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be here soon, baby,” Taeil says and presses a kiss to his pup’s forehead.

The coach calls their team together and Yukhei reluctantly lets go of Taeil. “Tell him to watch me!” Yukhei yells over his shoulder and runs off to join his huddled teammates.

“Taeyong is coming?” Ten asks as nonchalantly as possible, but his friends catch on right away. Luckily, they don’t tease him too bad.

“Yes, he’s just running a little late. Don’t worry, he’ll be here, baby,” Johnny coos and pats his back.

Ten grits his teeth and raises a fist threateningly. Taeil chuckles and shushes them, “Look. Hei’s playing.”

Johnny turns his attention to the game, cupping his hands around his mouth and hollering encouragements. Beside him, Donghyuck yells as loud as he can, “ _THAT’S MY BIG BRO!_ ”

Yangyang, caught up in their excitement, also yells and claps his hands. Taeil doesn’t seem to mind the racket and smiles as he records every one of Yukhei’s moves, all his passes and dashing up and down the court in his cute gold and purple uniform.

Ten smiles, watching the Moon Suh pup pretty much dominate the court. He’s probably the tallest and the serious gaze he wears as he focuses on the game is doing wonders for him. The other team, he notices, is too intimidated to take the ball whenever it's in his hands. Yukhei alone wins them many points.

Their family is on their feet every time, screeching like they’ve gone crazy. Ten thinks he sees many of the other parents on the bleachers looking at them disdainfully each time. But he could really care less.

Taeyong and Mark arrive sometime during halftime. The kiddie basketball game is divided in two halves as opposed to the 4 quarters of a normal match and the Dragons are leading by 12 points against the Eagles. Taeyong hugs them all in greeting, smiling if not a little dazed-looking, bundled in a fuzzy jacket and wearing baby pink gloves and a beanie.

“Sorry, we’re late. The truck broke down and getting a cab was—” he shakes his head, taking the red beanie and gloves Mark passes him—“hellish.”

Johnny grins, patting his shoulder soundly, making the smaller alpha flinch, “No worries. You’re here now.”

Taeil lets Mark sit on his lap, hugging the pup close. “Yeah. Sit. Enjoy the rest of the game. Markie, Yukhei asked if you’ll watch him.”

Mark smiles, eyes searching the court, “Where is he?”

“Right there, pup,” Taeil leans down so his cheek brushes against Mark’s as he points out Yukhei, gulping down water from a little paper cup.

“Oh!” Mark grins and holds a hand high. “Xuxi!”

Yukhei glances in their direction and smiles wide when he sees them. “Mark!” He throws his cup away in the little wastebin the coach is toting and holds his arms over his head in a heart. Mark blushes pink, sending back little finger hearts as Donghyuck gags loudly and Yangyang giggles at him.

The buzzer sounds for the second half to begin. Taeyong doesn’t even think twice as he sits next to Ten, smiling softly, adorable twinkle in his eager eyes. “Hi,” he murmurs just loud enough for him to hear.

Ten smiles, “Hi. Didn’t think you’d make it.”

“Me either. I’m glad I did though. Mark would’ve cried like there’s no tomorrow.”

“Mark would have cried or _you_ would have?” Ten smirks.

Taeyong giggles. “We both would have.”

They both smile like fools and return their attention to Yukhei’s game when Johnny once again starts hollering as his pup scores the team a few more points. Somehow—don’t ask Ten how it happened—he ends up leaving the game with baby pink gloves on his hands and with the promise of returning them soon.

~~~

The riveting kiddie basketball game lights a fire in Yangyang, and Ten manages to buy his baby the basketball uniform needed to participate in the practices after school. Yangyang smiles wider than the Cheshire Cat when his mother presents him with the purple and gold basketball shorts and tank top. New black sneakers are the cherry on top. His baby is extra excitable on the days he gets to wear his basketball getup underneath his regular clothes.

And that smile on his pup’s face cost him nothing but a few more hours of pruney fingers and backaches. He’s done selling his body. He won’t put his pup in harm’s way like that anymore. It’s not at all cause he’d feel guilty going back to that line of work.

What does he have to feel guilty for?

It’s not like he’s dating Tae— _anyone!_ It’s not like he’s dating anyone.

“Momma, can I have mine with milk? And Mark says he wants his with hot chocolate. Please, momma.”

Ten smiles and nods, “Only cause you asked so nicely.”

Yangyang grins and scampers off, back into the living room to play with Mark and the rest of their little friends.

“Can you give him like half a cup, please? I don’t want him to spill any,” Taeyong gestures at the styrofoam cups between the microwave and the pot on the stove. He’s busy stirring a different pot, silver with smoke marks and spots with a yellow tint near the bottom from years of use.

Ten nods and steps around Taeil, who’s re-covering all the trays and bowls of food at the island with foil, to get to the hot chocolate pot. The little kitchen and, subsequently, the rest of the house is filled with the smell of food, honeyed and baked and fried. He fills half a cup with the hot liquid, topping it with little marshmallows, before squeezing past Taeil and Taeyong again to get the milk from the fridge.

He and Yangyang are spending the evening at the Moon Suh house. His friends invited all of their little family to the Christmas party. He can hear Johnny in the living room, laughing aloud. A glance over his shoulder leaves him surprised to see it’s Kun he’s chatting with. The omega is grinning as he talks. Kun’s mate, Yuta, is sitting on the couch, talking animatedly with Jaehyun and Doyoung. All of their pups are sitting around the coffee table, giggling at Jungwoo and Donghyuck’s little dance battle to the holiday music coming through the speaker sitting on the tv stand.

Ten takes the two cups over to the kids’ table, setting them in front of Yangyang and Mark, a safe distance away from the edge and neatly beside their little plates, mostly emptied of the food served. Remnants of cornbread, candied yams, green beans, and fried chicken on the festive disposable plates. The pups thank him and reach for the Christmas tree cookies placed strategically in the middle of the two tables. He helped Taeil move the extra table from the attic. Lord knows all 9 of the pups would have never fit on one.

“Anyone done with their plate?” Ten raises his voice over their excited chatter.

A chorus of “I am, Mr. Ten!” answers him and he picks up the used plates the pups pass him, piling them and taking them to the trash bag in the kitchen.

He washes his hands in the sink, scooting forward when Taeil passes by him to return to the living room. Taeyong is still standing by the stove, stirring the pot occasionally. Ten smiles and wanders over to his side. “So what is it you’re making in there? Apple cider?”

Taeyong glances at him, a small smile on his lips. “Punch.”

Ten rests his chin on his shoulder, leaning forward to sniff at the sweet smell of Taeyong’s concoction, “I’ve never heard of this kind of punch. Smells good though. Sweet… like fruit. There’s no fruit in it, is there?”

Taeyong snorts and smiles, returning his attention to the pot on the stove. “Tons of fruit. It’s got apples, prunes, guava, and Mexican hawthorn.”

“What kind of punch needs all that fruit for?!” Ten scrunches up his face and shakes his head.

“For the flavor. But it has other stuff in it too. Tamarind, sugar cane, cinnamon, and panela. Mark really likes it.”

“Yeah and Yangyang really likes picking up and playing with every cent he sees no matter where he finds them but do I let him do that? No. No, I don’t.”

“It’s not that bad!” Taeyong giggles and sets the wooden spoon aside. “Pass me a cup, please.”

“You better not try and make me drink some. I hate fruit.” Ten passes him a styrofoam cup.

Taeyong takes it and grabs a thermos from within a lunch bag that was sitting by the toaster the whole time. “I made an extra batch just for you, sans fruit.” He pours out some of the clear golden liquid into the styrofoam cup from the thermos and passes it back to him.

Ten arches a brow, but after another small smile from the alpha, blows on the liquid before taking a small sip. It doesn’t taste like anything at first, and then the sweet warm taste invades his tongue softly. “Mm. It tastes like… Christmas… Where’d you learn to make this?”

Taeyong smiles, pleased. He serves out more cups of his punch for the rest of the adults, “When Mark was a newborn, I always had trouble getting him to go to sleep. He’d cry really loud and the apartments we lived in then had paper-thin walls. There was a married couple next door that came over to help me one night. Two elderly Mexican omegas. They taught me how to best hold Mark and teas I could drink to make my scent less abrasive to his sensitive nose.

“They were really kind. They were the ones that set me up with the job at the fire station. They passed away in their sleep a few days after Mark’s 1st birthday—” Taeyong smiles sadly and covers up the pot again when he’s done—“I try and visit their graves when I can. As you can imagine, their families weren’t very accepting of their relationship…”

Ten hums, basking in the warmth of the cup between his hands. He thinks he should feel sad, but Taeyong isn’t. So much as he is hopeful… and thoughtful… keeping the memory of those omegas alive. He smiles and sets his cup aside to pick up the other cups.

“Let me help.”

Taeyong smiles and picks up others, “Thank you.”

They slip back and forth between the living room and kitchen as they serve cups of tea, bumping hands and shoulders a few more times than normal. He ignores Johnny and Taeil’s exchanged side glances, Doyoung’s poorly-hidden smirks, and Yuta’s knowing smiles directed at Taeyong.

He doesn’t think it means that much anyway. Taeyong is good company. Besides, he did need to return his gloves to him that one time and maybe he, also, promised to help him fix his truck, even if all he ended up doing was hold the flashlight steady while laughing at Taeyong’s skinny frame, halfway inside the hood of the truck as he fixed it.

Yeah, they’re just really great friends.

Yeah.

When they’re done, Taeyong thanks him, squeezing his hand gently in his, running his thumb over Ten’s knuckles reverently. Ten can’t do anything but squeeze back and smile unabashedly.

Had anyone told Ten he’d be cozying up so fast to an alpha, he’d had laughed in their face and maybe called them a few obscenities. Now, he doesn’t think his little family would be the same without Taeyong.

But he, also, can’t deny the nature of their relationship. It’s been a slow, steady climb. Taeyong is nothing like an alpha, but his scent alone is enough reminder of what he really is. It started with shy glances, longing looks, those became simple gestures—hand-holding and helping the other, letting fingertips linger—and then those became embraces. Ten hates those kinds of acts of affection, alphas with their hands and arms all around omegas, like they’re possessions. But with Taeyong, it’s just not the same. He keeps his touches above the waist, only does it in private, and always makes sure he isn’t uncomfortable.

It’s almost perfect.

Taeyong gets pulled into the kitchen by Yuta and Jaehyun. After a few moments, the trio’s combined laughter resounds alongside the festive music. Johnny’s head snaps towards the sound and he picks his way around Kun and Doyoung’s legs to get to the kitchen and join the excitement, leaving the living room full of omegas and pups.

Johnny’s loud giggles come through not five seconds after. Doyoung arches a brow, “What the hell they doin’ over there?”

“Nothing good, that’s for sure,” Kun says with a shake of his head.

Taeil leans back into the couch, pressed in alongside the arm and Ten. “So long as they don’t break anything in there, I don’t care what they’re doing.”

And then Yuta and Taeyong come back into the living room, play-tussling. Yuta growls, grappling his arms around Taeyong’s shoulders to try and knock him down. Their fight grabs the attention of the pups and all nine of them start cheering and making general squeaky noises akin to a troop of monkeys.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Mark cries out over them, eyes round and sparkling, both concerned and seemingly intrigued.

Chenle screeches over him, “Beat ‘im to pulp, papaaaaa!!!”

“What… the hell?” Doyoung deadpans.

“They’re releasing tension? Something about alpha hormones or…?” Kun shrugs, watching the tussling pair with eagle eyes so they don’t accidentally hurt their pup audience. “Yuta told me about it once, but I really couldn’t tell you anything about it.”

Taeyong seemingly slips on air and falls to the floor with a thud, landing on his back. Yuta cackles maniacally and flexes his arms over his head, “BRING IT OOOOONN!”

Doyoung scoffs. “I think this has nothing to do with hormones and everything to do with brains. No offense to you, but my Jae would never—” Jaehyun pops up behind Yuta, grabbing his shoulders in a surprise attack—“do…”

“You were saying?” Taeil smirks.

“Daddy!” Mark bounds over to his father’s side, unfazed by the literal fight going on. Taeyong is quick to recover, hugging his pup onto his lap and scrambling away from Jaehyun and Yuta’s growling match.

“I’m alright, baby. We were just playing,” Taeyong purrs, letting Mark nuzzle into his neck. Meanwhile, the Nakamoto pups, even Sicheng, are all screeching and egging their father on. Jungwoo and Jeno are doing the same, going as far as to threaten Jaehyun out of their house if he loses.

Ten chuckles. Yup, those are definitely Doyoung’s pups. His eyes stray to his pup, now at Taeyong’s side, making sure both of the Lee’s are ok from the looks of it. He smiles, but then he gets the feeling something is… off.

It takes him several moments to realize why. Gaze returning to the pup’s table, Yukhei and Donghyuck are unusually quiet. He’s a key witness to the extent of the ability of their vocal cords, but they’re as cool as cucumbers, sitting side by side at the table. Little smiles on their faces verging on smirks.

For what reason?

Jaehyun gets a solid grip on Yuta’s waist, but the Japanese alpha pulls him into a headlock as soon as he does, tapping into those self-defense skills. Yuta grins, feeling the fight leave Jaehyun, and lets him go before he can actually pass out. Jaehyun surrenders with a hand at his throat, laughing wheezingly and face pink.

And then Ten understands the reason behind the Moon Suh pups’ smug little faces.

Johnny comes lumbering out of the kitchen as Yuta celebrates his second victory. Chenle’s screams have reached astronomical levels, shaking his fists in the same manner as his father. It is as short-lived as butter sitting on a hot pan. 

Johnny wraps both arms around the shorter alpha’s frame and brings him to the ground in one move. Donghyuck and Yukhei’s roaring screeches overtake Chenle’s as they run up to their father.

“What was the reason…?” Doyoung mutters.

Kun shrugs again and then glances at Taeil, “Won’t you get noise complaints?”

Taeil smirks, staring at Johnny with a weird look in his eyes, “I’m a rebel.”

“It _was_ kind of hot though…” Doyoung mutters, again.

It probably doesn’t mean anything to his coworkers, but the last time he saw that expression on Taeil’s face, Yukhei was brought into the world. Ten grimaces and shakes his head, “Yeah, I don’t know about that. A bunch of grown alphas tickling and slapping each other like gorillas doesn’t sound appealing to me.” The trio bust out laughing. 

Yukhei and Donghyuck have somehow managed to climb their way up onto Johnny’s shoulders. “That’s why _no one_ can beat _my_ daddy!” Donghyuck announces triumphantly.

No one has anything to say about that. They know it’s probably true. Sicheng, Chenle, and Renjun are puppy-piling on their father in the same manner that Jungwoo and Jeno are on Jaehyun. Yangyang sits by himself at the table, hands twiddling on his lap as he looks back and forth between the family units.

Ten wonders just how much it affects his pup to have an absentee father and he hopes as hard as he can that his love will be enough to fill the void. Yangyang catches him staring and smiles, running to leap on his lap. Ten hugs him and peppers his face with kisses.

“I love you, momma.”

“I love you too, baby, so much.”

The party eventually winds down after the secret santa gift exchange Johnny organized. Everyone’s ushered out with plates of leftovers in their hands, out into the cold night by Taeil. Ten and Taeyong are the last ones to leave. Johnny begins to pull on his coat by the door, “Ten, I’ll give you a ride real quick—”

“It’s ok. I got it,” Taeyong cuts in.

“What?” Johnny glances at Ten. “You sure?”

Ten smiles and nods, “It’s ok.”

Johnny blinks, dumbfounded, “Oh. Ok. Well, if you’re sure—”

“He said he was. Let them go.” Taeil shoos them out the door. “Bye. Goodnight. Merry Christmas and all that.”

The door promptly closes and Taeyong giggles as Ten shakes his head, holding onto Yangyang’s hand. “He doesn’t have to be so obvious about it.”

“Yeah…”

They quickly get into Taeyong’s truck, Ten in the passenger seat, Mark and Yangyang sharing the middle seat behind them, cuddling for extra warmth. They cruise along towards Ten’s apartment, arriving much too soon for either of their likings.

Taeyong helps him carry sleeping Yangyang into the apartment and quickly returns outside when he’s done to move his sleeping Mark into the passenger seat. He leaves the truck on but lingers at the doorstep with Ten. “I hope you like your gift,” he murmurs shyly.

Ten smiles, “I feel like Taeil might have set us up with that one.”

“Well, yeah, it cost me a whole day of babysitting their pups.”

“Oh, you did it on purpose, you sneak,” Ten jabs a gentle finger into his chest.

Taeyong giggles, “I had to.”

“M-hm. Sure. I would’ve bought you something too if I knew it was gonna be like that.” Ten crosses his arms and steps closer, out of the threshold of his home.

“No, it’s ok—” Taeyong smiles, staring into his eyes sincerely—“I’m happy just being allowed into your life… being allowed to know you.”

Ten smiles, keeping his arms crossed lest he reach out and pull the beautiful alpha closer. They stare at each other a few moments in silence before Taeyong quietly breaches it.

“Can I kiss you?”

Maybe it’s the happiness in his core, or the wine Johnny snuck him earlier now thrumming in his veins, but he nods silently. Taeyong’s gaze flickers between his eyes and his lips, slowly leaning forward to close the distance between them. And Ten…

Ten really wants to know how it feels…

But he can’t.

Images flash in his head like a warning, of a different alpha, of who was once his love, breaking him down to his core. His heart aches with the pain of the past and he closes his eyes, setting his hands on Taeyong’s shoulders, keeping him back.

He inhales, exhales, and opens his eyes. Taeyong’s face is doused in concern, the question clear in his eyes and on the tip of his tongue. Ten shakes his head and lets his hands linger only for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Taeyong… I— I’m just not ready…”

Taeyong frowns, taking Ten’s hands to squeeze them gently, reassuringly, “Don’t apologize, Ten. It’s ok. It really is.”

Ten feels a familiar prickling behind his eyes and squeezes back, staring up into warm dark brown eyes, “I… like… whatever we have between us… but I want to take this slow.”

He doesn’t lash out at him for leading him on or denying him. He doesn’t scrap his pure persona and mouth him off like any other alpha would. He doesn’t do anything to hurt him.

“We’ll take it slow then.” A small smile finds its home on Taeyong’s lips. “I understand… I think I understand more than anyone… what you’re going through… So we’ll do this however you want or not at all. I’m happy just being your friend too.”

Ten smiles to keep his tears at bay and squeezes Taeyong’s hands one more time before letting go. “You should get home,” he murmurs, stepping back into his apartment. “Goodnight, Taeyong.”

“Goodnight, Ten,” Taeyong waves and steps away.

Ten doesn’t wait to see him drive away. Mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted as he closes and locks the door.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think it was possible to be more nervous than last time. Hoooooo, boi.... Anyway, I hope y'all liked this one as much as the rest.  
> I feel like the initial vibes of the fic are changing and let me tell you, my taeten addled brain wants to get that instant good-good, but I know their relationship has to be slow-cooked with love if it's gonna work lol
> 
> I hope you're all doing well and staying safe and healthy during the holidays. I know this year wasn't all that great, but let's hope and do our best next year too. There's still sights to see, food and music to enjoy, relationships of all kinds to develop and experience. I wish y'all courage and happiness for the new year! Love y'all! <3


	7. Chapter 7

“Wow! You work here, momma?!”

Ten smiles as Yangyang slides down off his shoulders, slowly till his sneakers have met the locker room floor. A few of his co-workers fill the room, chatting among themselves and putting away their belongings in their individual lockers. “Mhm,” he peels off his long coat and hangs it inside his locker along with the extra uniform he keeps in there.

Beside him, Yangyang peels off his padded jacket, passing it to his mother along with his gloves and beanie. Ten puts them away along with his things, carefully hanging the little jacket over his and then placing the other things in his bag, which barely fit because it’s now stuffed with both his and Yangyang’s lunches and a few snacks, toys, books for his pup.

Normally he wouldn’t have to worry about Yangyang at work, but it’s Saturday. There is no school and the Purple Daycare is closed until further notice because of personal… complications. Taeil has a condition where his heats come sporadically and last for a random number of days. They’re not predictable like every other omega’s cycle. And he really can’t imagine how hellish it must be for either of his friends. Hellish enough they send both Donghyuck and Yukhei to stay with their grandparents.

“Baby, what you want? You want Kitty or your dinosaur book?”

“None.”

“You sure, baby? We won’t be able to come back in here until lunchtime.”

“Mmm—” Yangyang purses his lips, one hand grabbing on tight to his coat and the other held to his chest like he doesn’t know what to do with it—“Can I have my goldfishies, momma?”

Ten quirks a brow and digs in Yangyang’s lunch bag for the baggie of yellow crackers. “You sure that’s all, baby? I don’t want you to get bored.”

“I won’t. I wanna see you work, momma. I wanna learn so I can help you!”

Ten smiles, “Sure thing, baby. It’s not very interesting though.”

Yangyang goes quiet beside him as he finally finds the baggie. He feels tugging on his slacks and his baby murmurs, “Momma, your friend is here, Mr. Doyoung… Ms. Doyoung…?”

Ten glances over his shoulder as Doyoung approaches, wearing a simple pale yellow dress instead of her usual slacks and button-up. He smiles as she stops beside him, “It’s a dress kind of day, huh?”

Doyoung nods, setting her things in her locker which happens to be right next to Ten’s. She smiles down at Yangyang, staring up at her with round eyes, little lips slightly parted. “Hi, Yangyang. You come to work with us today?”

Yangyang nods once and then tugs at his mother’s slacks again, flapping his little hand for him to come closer. Ten crouches, lending his ear to his pup. Yangyang cups his hands around his ear, whispering before gesturing back up at Doyoung, who watches with quirked brows and a small smile. Ten grins and stands, ruffling Yangyang’s hair.

“He says you’re very pretty and that he likes your makeup.”

Doyoung chuckles, smile all teeth as she leans down to hug the pup, “Aw, Yangyang! You think I’m pretty?”

Yangyang blushes pink and hugs back, little arms wrapping around Doyoung’s slender legs. Ten grabs Yangyang’s mini dinosaur figurine for him to play with just in case, and locks up his locker to see Doyoung cupping his pup’s cheeks and cooing down at him. Yangyang is smiling and giggling. The sight warms his chest.

“Baby, here’s your things. Try not to lose them, ok?”

“Ok, momma,” Yangyang takes the dinosaur toy and busies himself tucking his baggie of goldfish in the big chest pocket of his overalls.

Doyoung watches Yangyang for a moment before glancing up at Ten. “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing him?”

Ten shrugs.

“Jae could’ve watched him for you. He’s staying home with Jungwoo and Jeno.”

“You trying to steal my pup, bunny?”

Doyoung smirks, “Maybe, but who wouldn’t want him? He’s adorable and good… He’s a good baby.”

“He’s _my_ baby. What’d you expect?” 

“A menacing little demon.”

Ten glares at her and then chuckles as his friend closes up her locker. “It’s fine. It’s not like I’ll be here for long anyway—” he glances down at Yangyang and pets a hand over his head—“Ready to go, baby?”

“Yes, momma!”

The buzzer for the workday to start sounds and they leave for the laundry room with everyone else. Ten holds onto Yangyang’s hand as they navigate the maze of washing machines, dryers, and ironing boards. Yangyang’s mouth is slack as he takes it all in, head swiveling and eyes wide.

The laundry room is no stranger to pups, sometimes other mothers will bring their babies. Ten’s had to guide the more curious ones away from trying to eat lint or pennies or from getting their grubby hands on hot surfaces. The pups would either stare up at him or glare before running back to where their mother is. One time a pup cussed him out and flicked him off, and Ten was so surprised all he could do was laugh alongside Doyoung. 

He never found out who’s pup it was.

As Doyoung walks off to go get their first load of the day, Ten crouches in front of Yangyang, “Want me to explain the process to you?”

Yangyang gets a serious little look on his face and nods resolutely.

“Ok, so usually I come in after someone else that means sometimes there will be stuff either in the washer or dryer for me to finish.”

“Like teamwork?”

“Yeah, baby, exactly. Some days both machines are empty so we’ll go and get a load of dirty laundry. Doyoung and I are in charge of two washers and two dryers.”

“Two, momma?” Yangyang seems in disbelief.

“Yup—” Ten gestures at them, silver and dingy and old—“Those two. They’re pretty big, huh?”

“They’re bigger than me, momma!”

“Yeah, they are. So we put dirty sheets in the washers, clean out the dryers while we wait then when they’re done washing we put them in the dryers and we fill the washers again. Pretty simple, hm?”

Yangyang looks between the machines of their square little workspace. The rest of the room grows louder with the sounds of chattering omegas and working machines, hissing irons, and bags of detergent and softener being lugged about. He points at the wide beige ironing board near the dryers. “What’s that for, momma?”

“That’s an ironing table. Sometimes the sheets that come out of the dryer are wrinkled but not a lot so me and Doyoung just use ‘em to straighten the sheets out and fold them there.”

“You do a lot, momma…”

“Yeah, I guess—” Ten stands as Doyoung returns with a cart of dirty sheets—“You wanna sit on that table for now? Watch me work, baby?”

Yangyang nods silently, dinosaur toy held tight in both hands. Ten smiles and picks him up, carrying him over to the table and setting him down near the center. Yangyang crosses his legs and smiles when his mother pecks his cheek. 

“Comfy?” Yangyang nods and Ten pets a hand over his cheek. “Ok, you call my name if you need anything, ok?” Yangyang nods again and Ten inhales and exhales softly before hurrying over to Doyoung’s side, helping him stuff the washing machines with sheets and covers. When he glances over his shoulder, Yangyang is silently minding his own business. Shy, curious little eyes darting around, down at his toy and then at the other working omegas.

And he keeps looking over while he works. Every five minutes, over his shoulder, to make sure Yangyang’s still there and content. He hears Doyoung chuckling as they move more sheets into the washers. “What?”

“You’re gonna sprain your neck, Ten. He’s fine.”

Ten shakes his head, “No, you don’t understand. If I lose that kid, I’m gonna tear this whole place up.” Doyoung laughs. “I’m serious, Doie.”

“I know, I know. You think I wouldn’t do the same if it were my pups?”

“Yangyang’s mine.”

Doyoung rolls her eyes, “Yeah, obviously.” Ten hip checks her and chuckles when she stumbles a little to the side. “Watch it! You wanna get beat up in front of your baby?”

“Oh, _please._ You might have longer legs, but you ain’t beatin’ me. I will tear you a new one, bunny.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Ten.”

Doyoung and Ten smile, chuckling as they walk over to their buzzing dryers. Yangyang twists around on the table to watch them as they pull the sheets out. He smiles when they pile them on the table, near him. He reaches a hand out as they spread out the white sheet, whipping it to straighten it out.

“It’s hot, momma!”

“Yeah, baby. Careful.”

Yangyang smiles, watching them expertly fold up the sheets. He giggles when Doyoung suddenly grabs him and pulls him close, probing his fingers into his tummy, ribs, and armpits. Ten moves the sheets to a separate cart, smiling fondly as Yangyang’s giggles go all hysterical and breathless.

“Oh wait, this isn’t a sheet,” Doyoung says, a huge smile on her lips. She sets Yangyang back towards the center of the table, returning his dinosaur toy to him. “There you go, Yangyang. It’s almost break time. Hang in there, puppy.”

Yangyang nods, “Yes, Ms. Bunny.”

Ten tries his hardest to hold in his laughter as they move wet sheets into the dryer. Doyoung narrows her eyes at him, “Did you teach him _that_?”

“Of course not, Ms. Bunny. You know how it is with babies. Monkey see, monkey do.”

Doyoung’s eyes narrow further, “Uh-huh. Suuuree.” She leans into the dryer to set the sheets correctly so they won’t end up all tangled.

“Hey—” Doyoung glances at Ten as he crosses his arms and leans against the machine—“If you’re gonna be making him _that_ happy, then I guess you’re now his third momma. He likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and goldfish crackers, and he’ll tolerate any vegetables as long as you tell him it’s dinosaur food.”

Doyoung snorts, a little smile on her lips, “Ok, I’ll remember that.” She shuts the dryer closed and sets it to start, straightening out her dress once she’s done. “Wait, who’s the second one?”

“Taeil.”

“Of course,” Doyoung smiles. “I wish I was like him. He’s so chill—”

“And weird.” Ten chuckles, “You didn’t know him before he settled down, I did.”

“Have you ever seen him angry?”

“A couple of times,” Ten smiles. “It’s funnier than it is scary.”

Doyoung hums. “I don’t know if I believe you or not. Anyway—” she murmurs when they’re away from Yangyang, who’s now laying down on the table and making his dinosaur toy walk in front of him—“I hear someone’s been spending a lot of time with a certain Lee Taeyong.”

Ten rolls his eyes, throwing in detergent as Doyoung arranges sheets and covers in the washer. “How do you know?”

“My bestie, Kun, told me,” Doyoung smiles too wide, and Ten sighs.

“And how does he know?”

“Apparently, his mate has been inviting Taeyong over to watch soccer games, only for him to decline cause he’s too busy with a certain Ten Lee—” Doyoung shakes her head, dusting off her hands—“I tell you what he must be some different kind of desperate going after you.”

Ten narrows his eyes, “Why?”

“Cause I mean, just look at you,” Doyoung looks him up and down, a playful twinkle in her eyes.

Ten grits his teeth in annoyance and swats a hand at her arm. “Why are you teasing me so much today, huh? You goin’ into heat soon?”

Doyoung barks out a laugh, “No, not yet… So, spill.” She bumps their shoulders together and then sighs when Ten quirks a brow, unimpressed expression on his face. “Come on. The notorious alpha hater willingly spending time with one?”

Ten shrugs, distracting himself with pouring out fabric softener, “It’s nothing big really.”

“Psshh! Uh!? Nothing big? Oh, this I gotta hear.”

It really isn’t anything big… or ground-breaking, at least. He’s been wondering why he feels so comfortable with Taeyong and wondering when _he_ became an exception to his hatred. And wondering why he craves Taeyong’s presence sometimes… It’s not touch deprivation, no, he gets all his adult human contact from obligatory cuddles with Johnny and Taeil… And he’s almost 100% certain it’s not romantic attraction. No, not again, not so soon. He only has space in his heart for his baby.

Doyoung nudges him again, “Well?”

“I don’t know… I know he’s an alpha, but I also know that despite his status, he chooses to be kind and… warm… And did you know he’s been raising Mark on his own since he was born?” Ten shakes his head, “I think I’m curious about him, but you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat. I don’t think it’s gonna go anywhere honestly. I don’t think I’d wanna be around him if that’s all he wanted from me… you know.”

Doyoung falls with him into silence, studying his face as they continue to work side-by-side. Ten wonders if he made sense or if he said too much, but then his friend speaks up.

“But satisfaction brought it back.”

“Huh?”

“That saying. That’s not the whole thing. It says, ‘Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Doyoung chuckles, “I don’t know. I’m not a philosopher, I’m just a damn poor laundress.”

Ten snorts and smiles. “Damn poor laundress always talkin’ that smart shit. You should go to college or something with all that.”

“Ha! The hell I look like going to college? That’s too much money. I need it to feed my family. And don’t talk about no loans, I don’t need all that debt.”

“Scholarships, bunny, scholarships. I bet they’d give you lots of ‘em, and, hey, community college is cheap. You could be something, make more money for your puppies.” Ten smiles, nudging her.

“I don’t know,” Doyoung smiles, nudging back.

The buzzer sounds loud throughout the workroom and Yangyang exclaims happily, “Lunchtime!”

Ten carries Yangyang on his hip towards the break room. They find three seats and wait as Doyoung retrieves their lunch bags. He returns soon when the room has been filled with their co-workers. Chattering loudly as always. Yangyang looks around at them all and smiles when he feels his mother’s hand in his hair.

“When I have lunch at school, it sounds loud too.”

“Really, baby?”

“Mhm. People are so loud, momma.”

“Yeah,” Ten chuckles. “They really are.” Doyoung returns with their lunch bags, setting them on the table as she plops down. “Thank you.”

“Thank you!” Yangyang chirps.

Doyoung smiles, “You’re most welcome, pup.”

Ten rolls his eyes, unpacking their lunches. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich with sides of baby carrots, green grapes, and a chilled milk for his Yangyang and a plain bologna and mayo sandwich and bottled water for him. Yangyang sits up on his knees so he can see over the table better. The head of his dinosaur toy, tucked into the pocket where his goldfish were, sticks out cutely with its mouth wide, frozen in a growl. He grabs his milk and grins, feeling it begin to sweat with condensation.

“It’s still cold, momma!”

Ten nods as he starts on his sandwich and watches as Yangyang goes on chattering to Doyoung, showing her the ice pack in his lunch bag that kept his food cold, explaining to her how it works. (Momma put it in the freezer!) Then he goes off on a tangent about the food they give at school and Ten chuckles as he pats Yangyang’s butt. “Baby, your food is gonna get warm.”

Doyoung chuckles as Yangyang’s attention is diverted completely to his lunch, “Cute.”

“I know,” Ten murmurs. “What you got today?”

“My alpha made me turkey wraps,” Doyoung smiles wide. “Our anniversary is coming up.”

“Oh, that’s nice. How long you been together?”

“We’ve been mated for 6 years, but we’ve been together for 8.”

“Wow, since high school.”

“Yeah, since Jungwoo. Actually, I didn’t know who his father was, but he had my eyes and that’s pretty much it. It wasn’t hard to narrow it down after that—” Doyoung narrows her eyes when Ten chokes on his water—“Now what?”

Yangyang glances up at his mother, patting his back and murmuring ‘be careful’ around his mouthful of carrots. Ten coughs it out, patting Yangyang’s face in acknowledgement to which his pup giggles and pats his shoulder in return.

Doyoung shakes her head, “You really shouldn’t be surprised. I mean I’m working here of all places. Anyway, Jungwoo had my eyes, but the rest of his precious little head was all Jaehyun. He didn’t get those lips from me.”

“Are you seriously telling me you figured out who your baby daddy is by looks alone?”

“No. We—”

“Went on Maury?”

“—got a DNA test done.”

“On Maury?”

“No! You—!”

Ten covers up Yangyang’s ears as he cackles, “Hey, watch it, not in front of my baby.”

“Momma?” Yangyang grabs one of his hands with the hand that isn’t occupied grabbing grapes.

Doyoung shakes her head and returns her gaze to her half-eaten lunch, “I don’t believe you _don’t_ curse in front of him.”

“Momma?”

Ten removes his hands from Yangyang’s ears and kisses the top of his head. “I try not to.” Yangyang quirks a brow up at him and Ten shakes his head, “Nothing, baby. You almost done? It’s almost time to go back.”

Yangyang nods with a cute smile as he shows his nearly empty baggies. A few grapes sit in one, waiting to join the rest of the food in his belly. Ten finishes the last of his sandwich as Doyoung shakes her head. He smiles, “Now what?”

“If you ask any of the omegas in this room at what age they had their babies, you know you’re gonna get nearly the same answer, right?”

“I know, I’m just teasing you,” Ten reaches to grab Doyoung’s hand, squeezing a few times. “We’re in the same boat and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Doyoung smiles a little and glances at Yangyang, “Come on.” Yangyang looks up at her and smiles before reaching to lay his hand on theirs. “Now we’re gonna go back in there and we’re gonna finish the day strong, ok?”

Yangyang’s gaze drifts between them, the smile on his face growing more excited, “Ok…”

Ten grins, “Ok! Let’s get it!”

Doyoung and Yangyang imitate his cry just seconds before the lunch hour buzzer sounds, ending the time slot. They join the crowd of their chattering coworkers, throwing away their trash and returning their bags to their lockers before filing into the workroom.

This time around Yangyang follows beside them, picking up the tail ends of the sheets they carry, doing his part in helping as they load the machines. Ten is beyond endeared at the concentration on his baby’s face and at the way he stops to wipe his forehead with the back of his wrist every few minutes. That is until his hair starts sticking to his skin.

Ten crouches in front of him, bringing him in close so he can wipe his forehead off with his shirt. “Momma?” Yangyang’s voice muffled from where his face is pressed up against his shoulder.

“I think it’s time for you to take a break, baby. You’re working hard.”

“But we’re not done yet,” Yangyang pulls away, his forehead cleaned of sweat and his damp hair sticking up in all directions.

Ten smiles and combs his hair down, “It’s ok. You deserve a break. Wanna sit on the table again?”

“Mmm—” Yangyang looks off past their little work area—“Can I go look at something, momma? I’ll be back really quick!”

Ten figures his baby deserves that much as a reward and nods, “You won’t get lost, right?”

“No, momma. It’s not far. I remember.”

“Ok, go and come back,” he kisses his baby’s forehead and stands. Doyoung calls his name as he watches Yangyang run off, past the machines towards where the pallets of sacks of detergent sit in the corner of the workroom. He watches until he loses sight of him and then he hurries to help Doyoung fold sheets.

He trusts Yangyang isn’t stupid enough to try and eat any detergent, and the room is filled with omegas and like one or two betas, no alphas to harm him.

He relaxes into the familiarity of working beside Doyoung, of their constant brushing hands and shoulders, of her scent—lavender and something else he can’t quite place, but it’s familiar and welcome.

_“MOMMA!”_

Ten swears he’s never moved faster in his life. He drops everything and runs. Yangyang turns to look at him as soon as he’s kneeling before him. His pup’s face is twisted up in a pout and tears are spilling over his cheeks as he nurses one of his hands to his chest. Off to the side stands another coworker, a female omega flanked by two of her friends probably. He doesn’t like the scowl on her face.

“What happened, baby?” He asks as he checks his pup over for any and all injuries, as Yangyang burrows himself in his chest.

“I-I was looking at t-the bags,” Yangyang hiccups, presenting his little hand to his mother. “And t-that lady wanted to touch me, but I-I didn’t want her t-to so I defended myself and she hit me, m-momma.” His pup cries harder and Ten sees red.

“You need to teach that _brat_ to respect his elders,” the other omega hisses. “Though I shouldn’t have expected much if he’s the son of a _whore like you_.”

“You watch your mouth!” Doyoung growls from somewhere behind them.

Ten presses a kiss to Yangyang’s hand and stands, cradling his baby. He hands Yangyang off to Doyoung and, without a second thought, jumps the omega that dared hurt his pup. 

He snarls like a wolf gone mad, punching and kicking at her to inflict as much pain as he can. Satisfaction rolling through him with each connection his fists make. She fights back, pulling his hair and scratching and punching. He thinks her friends join in too, but the pain is washed away by fresh wave after wave of boiling rage until he can’t tell who it is he’s hitting.

He hears Doyoung yell, the explosive jeering of their other coworkers, the ones trying to see what’s going on and the ones closest egging them on, and the sound of a bell, high and shrill. And all he sees is red, bright and overloading everything else, and he won’t be sated until he’s reduced her to shreds of nothing.

But that never happens. What happens is they’re forcibly torn apart and, when Ten continues to fight against whatever’s holding him back from his enemy, he’s bodily slammed to the floor. The pain starts to catch up with him as he struggles to catch his breath, as his hands are cuffed behind his back.

He sees the other omega and her friends being tended to as she turns on the crocodile tears for the alpha police officer, Kun stands not far from them, radio in hand and trying to bring order to the rest of the workers, the onlookers, and then Doyoung, standing away from the crowd with Yangyang in her arms. His pup’s face is tucked into her neck, but shudders run through his little body.

He’s dragged out of the hotel. He tries bargaining, tries explaining that he was defending his baby, but the blood and spit spilling from his mouth makes that hard to do. 

Pain blooms and pulsates nearly everywhere and by the time he’s in the police station, his whole body is on fire and sore. A beta nurse tends to his wounds, patches him up before he’s interrogated.

His pleas land him in a holding cell until someone can bail him out. He sits alone in the cell in silence. His face and body are throbbing even after the salves and bandages. He can hear the little chatter of the officers down the hall. The other omega never shows up there so either they believed her lies or she had an alpha to pay her way out.

Whatever the case is, he’s still stuck in a cell and his baby is hopefully safe with Doyoung… somewhere without him. But now that the red is ebbed away… he hopes Kun doesn’t fire him for essentially starting a fight. His leg jitters and begins jumping in place, knee bobbing up and down fast. He doesn’t even know how long he’s been sitting here or what time it is. Nothing but the cold confines and the even colder fluorescent light overhead.

He’s running through a list of other jobs he could find when an officer comes and unlocks his cell. “Your bond’s been paid, but you’re not allowed to leave yet. Someone will come and speak with you before you can go.”

_Oh shit._

He follows the officer out and only then realizes how bad it hurts to breathe. He’s willing to bet there’s bruises on his ribs underneath his mess of uniform clothes. He’s expecting to see Johnny there when he’s let out into the reception area.

Instead, Taeyong stands there, Mark held on his hip. He looks so out of place in his suit, that seems to be a few sizes too big, and Mark decked out in his beanie, padded jacket, and sweats.

He doesn’t understand why his cheeks decide to burn as Taeyong approaches, almost glaring at the officer that led him out before turning those sweet, molasses brown eyes on him, resting a gentle hand on his back, leading him to where Doyoung sits with his sleeping Yangyang on her lap.

“Are you ok, Ten?” Taeyong murmurs. Mark is looking at him with wide eyes, like he almost doesn’t recognize him. He imagines his face must look worse than it feels.

“Everything hurts, but I’m ok. That bit—” he sighs heavily and runs his tongue over his teeth, making sure they’re all there, the taste of copper is still prominent on his tongue, Taeyong’s scent, heavy with concern, invades his nose—“Some omega hit my baby.”

“Doyoungie told me,” Taeyong makes him sit next to Doyoung. Ten accepts the gentle press of his friend’s forehead to his as she gingerly passes him Yangyang. Relief floods through him and a tension he didn’t know he was holding slowly lets go in his core when he finally has his baby in his arms.

He doesn’t realize he’s crying till he feels Doyoung’s fingers gently wiping the tears away. “I called Johnny and told him what happened.”

“You didn’t have to bother them,” Ten mutters, checking his baby over again. Making sure little hands and legs and cheeks are ok with trembling busted fingers, dried blood beneath the nails.

“I didn’t know who else to call, Ten. I… I thought they were going to lock you up for real.”

Ten grits his teeth and brings Yangyang’s hand up to his mouth, the one that was hit. He’s never hit his pup, he’s never let anyone try and harm him like that, he’s never allowed it. He presses kiss after kiss to it even though his lips hurt.

“I talked with Kun and explained what happened. He’s gonna do his best to let you keep your job, but he’s gonna need you to report that omega and her friends. They’re probably gonna do the same.”

Ten nods, “Thank you for keeping him safe…”

Doyoung smiles a little, “I took him home and gave him a little candy to distract him.”

Ten glances up. Taeyong sits just across from them with Mark in the seat beside him. His eyes are intent on him, but he can’t read what’s in them besides concern. Through the doors leading out, he can see it’s dark outside. A clock on the wall tells him it’s nearing 11. 

“You two need to get home. I’ll be fine. I just need to wait for someone to come talk to me and I’m free to go.”

Taeyong shakes his head, “Johnny called me and asked me to stay with you until you’re home.” 

And he can tell he won’t be swayed by anything he says so he turns to Doyoung, “You need to get home to your puppies.” Doyoung frowns, searching his eyes. Ten does his best to smile, but it all hurts, “I just took on three other omegas by myself and I’m still standing. I’ll be fine. Go.”

Doyoung sighs as she stands, glancing at Taeyong, “Please keep an eye on him.” Taeyong nods resolutely and Doyoung waves goodbye before leaving.

Ten sighs and holds Yangyang close to his chest as Taeyong moves to sit next to him with Mark on his lap. They sit in silence, seemingly the only ones in the room besides the officers behind the desk opposite them. He doesn't know what to say, if there even is anything to say, and Taeyong doesn’t probe at him either. Maybe he can sense how tired he feels.

“M-Momma?” Yangyang squirms on his lap and slowly sits up so they’re facing each other. His eyes fill with tears and Ten feels his heart being torn out at being the cause of them. “Momma,” he sobs.

Ten holds Yangyang’s little face in his hands and presses their noses together. “It’s ok, baby. Momma’s ok. You’re safe.”

Yangyang’s cries come a little harsher, but quieter the longer Ten smothers him, “Momma, I-I’m sowwy. I’m sowwy, momma. You got like this c-cause of me…”

“No, no, no, no, no. Don’t be sorry, baby. Don’t ever be sorry for that. I taught you to defend yourself if someone is trying to do something to you that you don’t want, right? Right, baby?” He wipes Yangyang’s tears and keeps his face in his hands, so they’re eye to eye. His pup nods, even though the tears are still running down his face and his lips are wobbling.

“You did exactly what you’re supposed to. And I’m so proud of you, baby. You’re so brave.”

Yangyang sniffles and screws his eyes shut, trying to mold himself to his mother. Ten hugs him tight and presses kiss after kiss to his face and the top of his head. He does eventually stop crying when he glues his nose to his scent gland. Ten purrs, holding Yangyang, forgetting everything else but the fact that he has his baby in his arms.

He smiles and nuzzles his cheek to Yangyang’s head, to his soft hair, “See, baby, I’ll whup anyone and everyone for you. No one messes with my baby and gets away with it.”

“You whupped them good, momma,” Yangyang smiles slightly, hands curled up in Ten’s dress shirt, specks of blood on the ends.

“That’s right. King Kong ain’t got nothin’ on me.”

Yangyang giggles and stays nuzzled right up under his chin. It really wasn’t a fair fight. Three on one, and it’s not like there’s much of a difference between male and female omegas, other than the fact that they have an easier time birthing pups. He wishes he could see the number he did on them.

A tall woman in dress clothes steps into the building and approaches them. Ten sits up but keeps Yangyang in his arms. He feels Taeyong get up beside him too, he almost forgot he was there. The woman has her hands tucked in the pockets of her coat, a badge pinned to her chest, and the slight smile on her face is anything but friendly. He can’t help the uneasy feeling he gets from her, even though everything about her demeanor and scent screams beta.

“Mr. Ten Leechaiyapornkul?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Davis Wells with Pup Protective Services.”

Taeyong stands suddenly, almost shielding Ten with his body, even with Mark still on his hip, “What? No, you’re not—”

“I need to speak to the mother. Alone.” She isn’t intimidated at Taeyong’s posturing and looks past him towards Ten.

Ten grabs Taeyong’s arm and squeezes to let him know it’s ok before standing with Yangyang in his arms as he follows Davis a few feet away. The cold sweat building and climbing up over his spine keeps him from panicking completely and escaping with his baby.

“Mr. Lee, you took your son to work, and then he was left alone while you were incarcerated.”

“But I was—”

“I know and I’m sure you were just doing what you could, but we’re going to take custody of Yangyang just to make sure he isn’t suffering from neglect.”

Ten holds onto Yangyang more tightly then, keeping his baby’s face tucked away on his neck, staring up at her in disbelief. “This is _my_ son. I would _die_ for him.”

“He was in an unsafe environment. He shouldn’t have been at the workplace with you in the first place.” The beta isn’t swayed even with all the pheromones Ten knows he’s leaking. Fear and desperation.

“I-I didn’t have a choice—”

“Well, you’re going to have to prove that you can take care of him. Now, Yangyang will stay in our custody—”

“N-No! No! Please don’t take my baby!” 

Davis shakes her head and continues, “Until you prove to a judge that you’re capable of taking care of him. You will receive a court date set two weeks from now. You have till then to prove you’re capable, but the judge will ultimately decide what happens. So, please, don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” Davis holds out her hands to take Yangyang from him and Ten can’t help instinctively shielding his baby from her with his body.

“Mr. Lee—”

“Please! I just need a moment!”

Davis’ conflicted emotions are clear on her stoic face, but she steps away, giving them space. Ten crouches, setting Yangyang down. They’re both crying again and Yangyang holds onto him impossibly tight. “M-Momma, I don’t wanna go…”

“I know, baby—” he grits his teeth, trying to control the horrid tears coming out of him—“I know, I know…”

“I’m s-scared, momma,” Yangyang blubbers.

Ten holds Yangyang like he’ll never be able to again. He wills his howling emotions down, the beast howling in his veins to keep his baby, _his_ blood and flesh close. He leads Yangyang’s tiny hands to his face, willing all of his courage forward, all of his love to reach Yangyang and stay anchored to him.

“I’m scared too,” he whispers. Yangyang’s face is red from crying and Ten hates, hates, _hates_ being the cause of it _again_. “I’m so scared, baby, but we have to be brave now… I need you to go with Wells, ok?”

“Momma, I don’t wanna. P-Please!”

Yangyang’s voice goes all high and desperate, Ten feels like the tone alone will tear him apart from the inside out. “Baby, please understand. They think I’m being a bad momma to you.”

“B-But you’re the best!” Yangyang looks up at Davis defiantly, anger on his tear-riddled face like he might be able to convince her. “My momma is the best momma in the world! L-Leave us alone!”

And, _god_ , how he wishes it was enough proof. How he wishes their tears at the simple notion of being apart for even a second was _enough_ _proof_.

Davis crouches to be face level with Yangyang, a genuine frown on her face, “I understand you’re scared, Yangyang, but you’ll get to see your mother again if we see that he’s doing his best to take care of you. You’re going to stay with other kids like you in this nice house and you’ll get to see your mother after five days. It’s only a week, not forever. I promise as soon as we find that your mother is taking care of you right, we will let you go back to him.”

Ten strokes his hands up and down Yangyang’s sides, “See, baby. Not forever. Just for a little while.”

Yangyang’s hands ball up the collar of his dress shirt and he presses his little nose to his scent gland again. The tears keep falling, but they’re drying quickly with every little inhale he takes. Ten pets the back of his head. “You promise, momma?”

“I promise, I promise. I swear to you, baby, we’re gonna be together again. But you gotta promise to be brave for me, ok?” He wipes his face clean of tears and runny boogers, forcing his own tears to stop just for a moment.

Yangyang’s lips are shiny and permanently in a pout, but he nods, “I promise…”

“I love you, baby, so much, more than anything in the whole world.”

“I love you too, momma.”

Ten smiles, forcing all his fear down for just a moment, and kisses Yangyang’s forehead and each of his cheeks and his chin. The tall beta holds out a hand and Yangyang, after a moment of hesitation, takes it. 

Davis smiles down at him as she stands, “Come on, honey. Do you like…?”

The rest of the conversation fades away as Ten watches on his knees as Yangyang walks away with the social worker. His baby doesn’t look back as he shyly talks with the tall beta.

And then they’re gone through the doors of the police station. Everything seems so much duller without his baby there. He thinks his heart stops beating. He feels a gentle hand on his shoulders and a gentler voice in his ear though it sounds muffled like he’s underwater.

He’s lifted to his feet and led out of the station and into a truck. Everything is blurry, the night city, the traffic lights, the street lamps. There’s a ringing for a moment, that gentle voice speaking again, and he’s so tired. Everything hurts. _Everything._

He only realizes why everything is so blurry when he’s standing in front of a familiar door, when it opens to reveal the giant figure of his best friend. His face hurts with the grimace that contorts it, his tears sting as they soak into his bandages.

Johnny holds him tight, one hand keeping his head held to his chest and the other tight around his shoulders, similar to how he held Yangyang moments ago. “I’m so sorry, Ten. I’m so sorry,” he whispers.

Ten lets go. His repressed emotions come clawing their way out and he wails in anguish, clinging to Johnny like he’s the only thing tethering him to the earth. “I’m gonna die without my baby,” he cries. “I’m g-gonna die without m-my baby…”

And he keeps uttering the same sentence as Johnny brings him into his home, as he helps him out of his ruined clothes and coaxes him into the guest room. The combined pain of his wounds and the absence of his baby force him under.

  
  
  
  
  


.

..

…

He wakes to covers tucked up to his chin and sore pains on almost every part of his body. He sits up, wincing as he does. His eyes adjust to the dark and he recognizes the Moon Suh’s guest room in an instant.

He slides out of the bed and slowly makes his way to the bathroom. He winces against the light when he flicks it on. A pair of pajamas sit on the counter for him along with a tube of toothpaste.

His eyes drift to the cup holding two toothbrushes, one small and one large.

He leans forward as the sobs bubble up out of him again. He presses a hand over his mouth to keep them muffled as the tears run and run and run. Being away from his baby is painful. It’s worse than anything he’s ever experienced. 

Hell! Losing that bastard alpha didn’t hurt half as much as losing his baby. And his omega doesn’t stop howling at him to return to him, to go and find him, to tear up the whole earth just for his one little baby.

Everything he does, _everything_ , he does for Yangyang. It all seems pointless now without his baby near.

And then he catches his reflection. His hair is scruffy and all over the place like he’s actually gone mad. Red angry scratches peek out from beneath the gauze bandages on his cheeks. His left eye is purple and droopy-looking. A little bandage sits over the lid, dried blood soaking almost completely through it. His bottom lip is busted and as angry looking as the rest of his wounds.

He’s in nothing but his briefs and socks so when he stands back, he can see the mottled bruises beginning to develop over his arms and ribs. Sickly green and dark purple against his skin.

He looks hellish. He feels hellish.

When he’s done showering, he changes into the pajamas and sinks back into the bed, crying himself to sleep again.

~~~

When his tears eventually run dry, he can’t do much but stay in bed, curled in on himself and missing the little boy he won’t be able to see for another five days, which he knows isn’t a very long time, but he hasn’t been apart from Yangyang for more than a day since he was born. The heats never counted because he knew Yangyang was safe with people he trusts more than himself.

He fades in and out of reality. His sleep is full of dreams of his baby, so he stays in bed. At least there he can see his baby, his Yangyang.

He doesn’t know how long he sleeps, but one time he wakes, he hears Taeil’s voice. His room is dark, but light shines in from the slit beneath the door. The whole of the house is quiet when it should be loud with the pups that his friends care for. He sits up very slowly and listens.

“Taeyong, I don’t think I have to…”

Taeil’s voice lowers to a whisper for a moment and Ten can’t hear no matter how much he strains, so he sneaks over to the door, avoiding the creaking floorboards.

“… and I’m telling you so you understand what you’re getting into. So you understand just how much he means to me and Johnny.”

Silence fills the gap and Ten imagines they can speak through gestures alone like he can with Johnny. That best friend language.

Taeil sighs through his nose and a mug clinks softly against the counter, “We lost contact with him after graduation. It wasn’t till after that he told us that that piece of shit alpha was hogging all his attention and keeping him from staying in contact.”

He realizes the conversation is about him and he almost ( _almost_ ) steps out, but then it occurs to him. What could they have possibly been talking about for the conversation to lead to his past?

“After he left them, Ten stayed in that apartment mourning until he was evicted. He packed up all he could in one bag and took to the streets. Sometimes he’d find space in a shelter, sometimes he didn’t. He looked for work cause he didn’t have much but some pocket money, but who was gonna hire a lone omega carrying around a baby?”

The conversation lulls and Ten presses his ear harder against the door, wondering if they’re whispering even softer now, but then he hears Taeil’s sniffles clear as day.

“And then… we found him. Dirty and starving and begging for money to feed his baby—” Taeil’s voice wobbles and Ten knows he’s crying—“We don’t know how long he was homeless or where he’d been, but he was so thin, so so thin, and his baby was clean and fine.”

A stool is pushed back and Ten imagines they must be embracing because Taeil’s next words come muffled.

“Ten loves Yangyang more than he loves himself, and that’s exactly how we feel about him… We found him right on time. Any longer and…” Taeil clears his throat and sniffs hard, regaining his composure. “So if you’re dead set on him, Taeyong, you had better… That bastard hurt him so bad, you’d better not do the same… He’s been through enough.”

Ten decides he’s heard enough and slips back into bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

~~~

_“It’ll all be over, and we won’t have to cry no more~”_

He wakes to music, gospel R&B. The door creaks open. He looks over his shoulder to see Johnny walk in with Donghyuck in his arms. His best friend sits at the edge of the bed near him with his pup in his lap, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Hi, Ten-Ten. How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” he croaks and then clears his throat. “And sad.”

Donghyuck crawls out of Johnny’s lap and straight to him, curling up in his arms. “Don’t cry no more, Ten. It’s gonna be ok.” Ten smiles slightly as Donghyuck pats his head patronizingly. He hugs the little omega pup to his chest, taking comfort in his little form. “I miss Yangie too, but he’s really tough so I know he’s ok.”

“Thank you, Ducky.”

He feels Johnny’s hand on his leg, a warm comfortable weight before he pats Donghyuck, “Let’s give Ten some space, baby. He needs to get up and get ready.”

Donghyuck pecks Ten’s cheek and slides off the bed, running off out of the room. “Come on, you’ve been asleep for nearly over a day.” Johnny offers a hand to him and Ten takes it without hesitation. He’s led out of the room and towards the kitchen. Afternoon light shines through the living room windows. Taeil stands by the stove in the kitchen, cooking something greasy and filling as his speaker pumps out music from where it sits on top of the microwave.

Johnny makes him sit at the island counter and walks off as Taeil sets his spatula down and approaches him, tilting his chin up to look at his face. Ten gulps softly and tries to keep Taeil’s gaze. His face doesn’t hurt as much as it did. “Hi,” he croaks.

Taeil scrunches up his nose, “Stinky breath… Why’d you have to go and get in a fight without me? We would’ve rocked their shit.”

“Ilie! The babies will hear you!” Johnny hisses as he returns with a first aid kit.

Ten smiles, genuinely smiles and immediately regrets it as pain pulsates everywhere from his cheeks to his eyes and lips.

“I’m just saying. Hell, we would’ve demolished them—” Johnny smiles and shakes his head as he makes his best friend look up at him as he replaces his bandages and cleans the scratches and soothes them with antiseptics—“Ten fights better than an angry mother bear,” Taeil chuckles. “You nearly rearranged their damn faces all on your own.”

“Ilie.”

Ten smiles through the pain and tries to hold still as Johnny examines his healing lip and eye, surrounded by purple and blue. “I felt like Godzilla,” he murmurs.

“Well, I think Godzilla’s fought enough.” Johnny throws away the old bandages, washes his hands, and goes to put the first aid kit away as Taeil starts serving out the food. Plates filled with steak and eggs. Ten’s reminded of the fact that he hasn’t eaten in what feels like forever.

“Hyuck! Yukhei! Time to eat!” Johnny hollers, helping Taeil set bowls of mashed potatoes and gravy on the counter. Taeil lowers the volume on his speaker and grabs a jug of tea from the fridge as Johnny sets out glasses.

Donghyuck and Yukhei come racing down the stairs and right into the kitchen, running into the stools when they don’t slow down on time. And then they start yelling over each other.

“I beat you!”

“No, I beat you!”

“Nuh-uh! I was _this_ much in front of you!”

“No!”

“Mommy! Tell him I won!”

Taeil doesn’t even bother looking at them as he serves them both mashed potatoes, “You both won. Please sit and eat.”

Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at Yukhei and climbs up on his stool. Yukhei does the same right back at his little brother and then he notices Ten sitting there and grins. “Hi!”

“Hi, baby.” Ten smiles as Yukhei comes right up to him and hugs his waist, pressing his face to his stomach. 

The alpha pup smiles up at him and points at his eye, “Does that hurt?”

“Only a little.”

Yukhei grins, “It looks cool.”

Johnny gets Yukhei to sit and they all dig in soon after that. Ten takes his time lest he make his stomach hurt. He kind of fails though. Johnny chuckles, “That good, huh?”

Ten flushes pink and contemplates flicking him off but settles on serving himself more mashed potatoes instead.

“Yup! No one makes better steak than my Ilie.” Taeil smiles and winks, shooting finger guns. Johnny giggles, 1000% whipped for his mate. “Oh! That reminds me—” Johnny turns back to Ten as he’s stuffing his mouth—“Doyoung, Kun, and Taeyong came to visit you while you were sleeping. Kun convinced his bosses to let you stay, but they’re docking your pay. Also, Yong brought your mail.”

Ten snorts, “They take my baby away and now they wanna pay me less.”

Taeil stands, searching through a drawer and taking out a letter that he passes to Ten. He takes it and rips it open when he sees who it’s from, eyes darting over the page faster than his mind can keep up.

“We read up on the process and we all agreed to testify for you if needed.” Johnny grabs his hand and squeezes. “We’re gonna do whatever we can to help you get Yangyang back.”

“T-They notified all living kin of his,” he sets the paper down, holding onto Johnny’s hand.

“You mean like—”

“My parents… and _his_.”

Taeil and Johnny exchange a worried glance. 

Ten’s sight goes blurry with tears but he squares his jaw, inhales and exhales deeply, rumbling, “I’m gonna get my baby back. I’m gonna get my Yangyang back. He’s mine and I’m not letting anyone else take him away.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew!!! LETS SHARE THE TISSUES! I am sorry... but also not sorry.  
> Me: omg I'm drowning in homework  
> Also me: Pounds out +5k words to finish this chapter  
> lol Hope y'all liked this :)
> 
> I hope you're all doing well and staying safe and healthy! I'm cheering for you! Love y'all! <3


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